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Choksi was reportedly arrested in Belgium after he was found living in the country last month. The fugitive businessman plans to appeal his arrest as Indian authorities seek his extradition.
Fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi. (File photo/AFP)
Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, who has been on the run from Indian authorities in connection with a Rs 13,500 crore PNB loan fraud scam, has reportedly been arrested in Belgium as New Delhi pushes for his extradition.
The absconding diamond jeweller was reportedly living in Antwerp with his wife Priti Choksi, after being granted residency — F Residency Card — in Belgium in November 2023. He was held on April 12 from a hospital where he has been undergoing treatment. Indian government sources on Monday indicated that a multi-agency team will visit the country ahead of the bail hearing next week.
Choksi had earlier settled in Antigua and Barbuda and even acquired Antiguan citizenship in 2017. He was detained in Dominica for illegal entry while he was with a rumoured girlfriend, and his legal team claimed he was kidnapped. He was eventually deported back to Antigua.
Mehul’s Abduction Allegations
In an audio clip back in 2021, Choksi alleged that he was kidnapped by Indian agencies, which left him “permanently scarred”. He said, “I’m back home but this torture has left permanent scars on my psychology and physically rather than permanent scars on my soul. I couldn’t imagine after closing all my business and seizing all my properties, kidnapping attempt would be made on me by Indian agencies.”
His lawyer said he was kidnapped and tortured while in Dominican custody for illegal entry, saying the fugitive businessman was abducted in Antigua and brought to Dominica on a boat. He returned to Antigua after spending 51 days in Dominican custody.
Choksi later said he was afraid of being kidnapped and taken to Guyana, which has a strong Indian presence. “I am currently confined to the limits of my house in Antigua, my poor health doesn’t allow me to move anywhere else, and the traumatizing experience I suffered at the hands of my Indian captors led to irreversible degradation,” he told news agency ANI in November 2021.
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‘Honeytrap’ Claims By Choksi
In the aftermath of the alleged abduction, a mysterious woman’s name also came up. Choksi’s wife Priti, who is also named as an accused by the Enforcement Directorate, alleged that they met Barbara Jabarika, a Hungarian national, in 2020 and alleged that she was part of a honeytrap plan.
Priti said her husband left for dinner on the evening of May 23 but never returned. She said Barbara had come to Antigua in August 2020 and “had walked in to our other house on the island and befriended the chef there”.
According to reports, Barbara and Choksi became friends and invited him to an apartment to meet her on the day he disappeared. Upon reaching, a group of people “abducted” Choksi and took him to Dominica, where he was held. However, Barbara trashed these allegations and claimed that she was Choksi’s “girlfriend”. She also said she had her own income and business. “I don’t need his cash, support, hotel booking, fake jewellery, or anything,” she was quoted as saying by NDTV.
She also claimed that Choksi introduced himself as Raj when they first met in August 2020. “Raj (Mehul Choksi) was the one who approached me, asked for my number and ‘befriended me’, totally the opposite of what his wife says,” Barbara said. She also said Choksi had told her they may meet in Cuba, suggesting he planned to move there.
However, Choksi claimed that Barbara did not assist him while he was being assaulted and forced onto a watercraft to be taken from Antigua and Barbuda to Dominica. He added that Barbara’s actions suggested she was actively involved in the entire scheme.
Priti Choksi also refuted Barbara’s claims that she knew Choksi as Raj. “How is it possible that despite all the media attention and public furore surrounding this case, that this lady who has an Instagram account with thousands of followers was in the dark about all this, and did not come out to speak in defence of her ‘friend’?” she said.
Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, have been accused of defrauding the PNB of over Rs 13,000 crore, one of the biggest scams in the history of Indian banking. He has been declared a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) by the government of India and a CBI probe against him is ongoing.