New Delhi [India], April 14 (ANI): Former Enforcement Directorate (ED) Director Karnal Singh said that the arrest of fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi in Belgium is a great success for India and Indian agencies.
“This is a great success for both the Indian government and Indian agencies- Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate. This is an extradition process and in any country, it can be said that it happens in two stages. The first stage is to accept the extradition request politically and bureaucratically. His arrest means they have accepted that they have to execute this extradition request,” Singh told ANI.
Speaking about the judicial proceeding, Karnal Singh said that CBI and ED have “good” evidence on Choksi and will succeed in judicial process.
“Now in the court, the Belgian government will fight on our behalf to bring him to India. So this is a big success for India. We have a lot of evidence and we will succeed in the judicial process and he will come to India… The CBI and ED have good evidence. The Enforcement Director has evidence of how he withdrew money from the bank, how he diverted it, how he used it for personal use. So we will succeed in the judicial process as well,” Singh said.
The Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice have confirmed that fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi was arrested on April 12 and is currently being held in detention. It further said that India has also introduced the request for his extradition.
“The Belgian federal public service of Justice can confirm that Mr. Mehul Choksi was arrested on Saturday 12th of April 2025. He is being detained in anticipation of further judicial proceedings. Access to his legal counsel has been assured,” the Belgian federal public service of Justice told ANI.
They also confirmed that Indian authorities have introduced an extradition request for Choksi.
“Finally, the Belgian federal public service of Justice can confirm that the Indian authorities have introduced an extradition request for Mr. Choksi. As is standard in individual cases, no further details can be released at this stage,” they said.
The 65-year-old fugitive diamond merchant who fled India on January 2, 2018, is wanted by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank (PNB) of Rs 13,850 crore. His nephew, Nirav Modi, was also involved with him in the fraud.
Choksi allegedly connived with his associates and other PNB officials from 2014 to 2017 and fraudulently obtained Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit from PNB, resulting in a wrongful loss of Rs. 6097.63 crore to PNB. (ANI)
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