Billionaire fugitive Choksi spotted in Belgium. Can India get him this time?

Indian investigative agencies pursuing absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, are seeking to get him back to India from Belgium, where he has been spotted, said people with knowledge of the matter.One of the two prime accused in the $2-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, Choksi—otherwise resident in Antigua—has proven elusive and is said to have to come to the European country for medical treatment, thus providing the agencies an opportunity to get hold of him.After getting wind of his visit, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought the immediate detention of Choksi, said the people cited above. With Belgium seeking a formal extradition request, the Indian authorities are working on the process so that Choksi can be held and eventually brought to India, they added.“The probability of Choksi fleeing, if not put under immediate detention, from Belgium to adjoining states including France is very high since the borders are porous,” said a senior government official. medium113552900The CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have charged Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, with corruption and money laundering for allegedly defrauding PNB of ₹13,400 crore in collusion with bank officials.The Indian government has separately been seeking Modi’s extradition from the UK, where he is held in jail.Why Choksi didn't turn up in Indian courtIn May, Choksi told a Mumbai court through his lawyer that he was unable to return to India due to reasons “beyond his control.”In an application seeking directions for getting documents concerning the suspension of his passport and the files of the ED’s money laundering investigation against him, he argued that he cannot be declared a “fugitive economic offender”.Choksi claimed he did not leave India to avoid criminal prosecution nor is he refusing to return to the country, but his passport had been suspended by the Indian authorities. He said he left the country for “medical treatment in the month of January 2018,” which was prior to the registration of the CBI case on February 15 that year, and the ED’s registration of the Enforcement Case Information Report a day later. mediumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd_iVAX4OikIn a September 11 press statement, the ED said it has provisionally attached assets worth ₹29.75 crore belonging to Modi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. These include immovable properties and bank accounts belonging to him and his companies in India.Earlier, the Directorate had attached movable and immovable assets belonging to Modi and his associates to the tune of around ₹2,596 crore in India and abroad. Besides, movable and immovable assets of the jeweller and his associates amounting to ₹692.90 crore have been confiscated under provisions of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, by a special court in Mumbai. mediumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh3BUC7azh0Assets worth ₹1,052.42 crore too have been successfully restored to lenders, PNB and the other consortium banks, the agency had said.The ED has already filed a prosecution complaint, equivalent to a charge sheet, against Modi and associated entities before the special court. Earlier this year, Modi had sought bail before a UK court, but his application was denied for the seventh time.When Choksi was almost extradited Choksi was charged with illegally entering Dominica from Antigua in 2021, and his wife Priti claimed that a woman was part of a trap to bring him back to India. mediumhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5XTgexzcAPriti had claimed that Choksi was abducted in Antigua and then was taken to Dominica in a boat. An eight-member multi-agency team, including officials from CBI and ED, from India flew to Dominica to bring Choksi back but were unsuccessful. Choksi later returned to Antigua and a court ruled in 2023 that he couldn't be extradited.