With Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne urging neighbouring Dominica to directly hand over fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi to India, agencies here are exploring options to get him extradited to face the law. Choksi is wanted in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB credit fraud case.
Choksi was nabbed in Dominica late on Wednesday after fleeing from neighbouring Antigua and Barbuda.
Browne reportedly said Choksi will be deported to India and Indian authorities are in touch with their counterparts in Dominica.
Indian agencies were in touch with Antigua and Barbuda on the matter and contact has also been established with the Government of Dominica for repatriation of Choksi to India, sources here confirmed.
They said the agencies are exploring possible legal recourse to seek his custody at the earliest.
After reports of Choksi’s arrest in Dominica, Browne told the media there that he has given “clear instructions” to the Dominican authorities to repatriate Choksi to India.
“We asked them not to repatriate him to Antigua. He needs to return to India where he can face the criminal charges leveled against him,” Antigua News Room, a media outlet, quoted Browne’s interaction with journalists in Antigua and Barbuda.
Reports also ascribed Browne as saying that Antigua will not accept Choksi back into his country. Browne said he has requested Dominica PM Skerrit and law enforcement agencies to not return Choksi to Antigua where he has legal and constitutional protection as a citizen.
Choksi is currently in the custody of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Dominica after he was nabbed following a Yellow Notice of the Interpol issued at the behest of Antigua to trace him.
Choksi has acquired Antiguan citizenship through an investment programme there and has been staying in the island country since his flight from India in January 2018 before he fled to Dominica on Sunday.
“Dominica has agreed (for Choksi’s repatriation). We will not accept him back. He made a monumental error by skipping the island. Dominican Government and law enforcement are cooperating and we have informed Indian government to have him repatriated to India,” Browne was reported to have said.
Choksi is facing extradition proceedings as also a case for revocation of his citizenship in Antigua.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), using Letters of Undertaking and Letters of Credit.
Choksi’s nephew Modi is in a London prison after repeated denial of bail and is contesting extradition to India. Both are facing separate investigations by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.