EXCLUSIVE: Mehul Choksi arrested at Dominica beach in suspicious circumstances

Dominica: Mehul Choksi- an Antiguan citizen who had gone missing on Sunday, was captured by the police of the neighbouring island of Dominica. The arrest was made on late Tuesday evening while police of patrolling in the suburbs of Roseau.

While talking to WIC News, Antiguan Prime Minister Browne also asked his Dominican counterparts to detain Mehul Choksi for entering the country illegally and to make him persona non grata and have him deported directly to India. He also asked the governments of India and Dominica to make necessary arrangements to send him to India. 

A senior police official said that during the preliminary probe, the investigative unit has assumed that Mehul Choksi made an attempt to use Dominica as a passage and was not planning to stay for a longer period. “There had been a similar event in Dominica last month where police arrested 19 Indians for overstaying and were allegedly planning to enter the US illegally.”

Police told that a peculiar individual was seen at the shores of the Caribbean sea near Canefield area; police's suspicion grew as the person was attempting to dispose off several documents into the sea. Police, unaware of his identity, questioned Choksi to show his travel documents and reason for visiting the country. But, he could not give any answers. Read More.

Later, after some digging, it was found the person Dominican police had found was an Indian fugitive who had defrauded a bank worth the US $2 Billion. Dominican police alerted all agencies across the Caribbean and in Antigua about their finding. Soon after, the interrogations begin, and it was found that Choksi entered the country through an unauthorized boat and was planning his departure through the same route. It was revealed that he was attempting to go to Cuba, where he happens to have a safehouse. 

Mehul Choksi made an escape from Antigua and Barbuda in a dubious method to run back from his possible extradition to India. As exposed by his close aide Govin, Cuba appeared to be safe for Choksi as India and Cuba also do not have an extradition treaty, and to take him back; a process had to start from zero, possibly resulting in giving him few more years of freedom.

However, Choksi's entire plan ended in ashes when the Dominican police captured him. The government of Dominica has informed their counterparts in Antigua and Barbuda. While Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne has denied taking him back, stating he had defamed the reputation of the country is an extreme liability for the country.

Choksi left India on January 7, 2018, several days before his billion-dollar PNB scam came to light. He obtained citizenship from Antigua and Barbuda under the country economic citizenship programme- Citizenship by Investment. Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi, also involved in the case, is struggling to ward off extradition from the UK, where he is in prison.

62-year-old Mehul Choksi is a wealthy diamantaire and was the owner of Gitanjali Group, a retail jewellery company that had more than 4,000 stores in India. Choksi began his career in the gem and jewellery sector in 1975 and took over the leadership of Gitanjali Gems from his father in 1985 when it was centred on just rough and polished diamonds.

Choksi along with his nephew Nirav Modi are accused of conspiring with two employees of Punjab National Bank (PNB), the country's second-largest state-owned lender, in a suspected $1.8 billion fraud. At least six PNB staff and at least six employees of Choksi and Modi have been captured so far.

Choksi is a declared fugitive by the Indian government. He had demonstrated his innocence in an open letter. On 6 March 2018, the Crime Bureau of Investigations (CBI) arrested Vipul Chitalia, the Vice-President of Choksi's Gitanjali Group of Companies and a key aide of Choksi, Chitalia was captured from the financial capital Mumbai's airport and kept in custody till March 2018.