Opinion: Shady reality of Mehul Choksi's disappearance, escape and extradition

Opinion: They are asking the murderer to investigate his own murders, they are asking the thief to investigate his own thieving activities, they are asking to money launderer to investigate his own white-collar crimes and they are asking Mehul Choksi why did he leave Antigua and Barbuda and he is pinning up theories to baffle everyone around the world.

Every day, new stories and narratives are coming in the Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi’s missing saga from Antigua and Barbuda. The Caribbean country, where he had been residing since 2017, and what his wife Priti Choksi refers to as the safest place for her husband to be in.

What exactly went behind Choksi’s disappearance is still concealed, but new theories are arriving at a higher pace every now and then.

Certain aspects could not be ignored in the broken story that has been derived by Mehul Choksi’s wife and lawyers. In 2019, Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda ordered to revoke the Indian fugitive’s citizenship under the “Citizenship Act, Cap. 22”. Since then, Choksi had been fighting for his citizenship and extradition back to India in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

Notwithstanding, he is also fighting his case against extradition to India, which would also be heard late this year. An unfavourable decision in any of these two cases will end up Choksi’s repatriation to India. If the court revokes his citizenship, he will no longer enjoy Citizen rights in the country.

Choksi’s sudden disappearance comes months before his hearing in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which raises concerns over his escape. The court had adjourned the matter till November 2021, and the final decision was also expected sooner. In any manner, if the court orders against Choksi, he would get much close to his repatriation back to India, where he is a fugitive in a $2 billion fraud case against the country’s second-biggest public lender, Punjab National Bank (PNB).

There have been talks around the country in Antigua that Choksi would be sent back to India before 2022, and he might also have been well aware of these talks happening in high ranked offices. Fearing his extradition back to India, Mehul Choksi sketch out his escape that could not succeed because of a vain attempt. There are speculations that Mehul Choksi left Antigua and Barbuda on May 23, 2021, in a speed boat, while he had plans to go to Dominica and then take a private jet for Cuba.

In the Caribbean and Latin America, speed boats are mainly used by human traffickers and agents for illegally transporting immigrants. While Choksi could not legally leave Antigua and Barbuda, he had to take a different path and it was way more easier for him to fly from Dominica to Cuba than sail all the way to Cuba itself, which resulted in hiring the people who unlawfully transport people from one country to another via seaways.

The Caribbean people are well known that most of the escape plans are carried out in a shady and hidden way. It is impossible to abduct someone with a boat clearing immigration and customs in the country. Whereas, claims of Choksi’s lawyers that Calliope of Arne transported Mehul Choksi in the country are senseless. Why would someone use a boat which is officially registered.

As Mehul Choksi enjoys the privilege of being rich, not to forget he has raised over $2 billion from fraud in India, those gangs are mainly looking for people with more money. Since Choksi was permanently shifting to a different country to escape his extradition, he must’ve been carrying a heavy amount of money.

What could have happened to him? And his bruises? It is believed that the people who were transporting him must have beaten him up and taken all the cash he was carrying during his travel and left him on a beach in Dominica - this is more relatable than what lawyers of Mehul Choksi are telling. The media has already disclosed that he had even planned to use a different identity to travel and live in Cuba. However, it is yet not revealed what name he had used during his escape. His close ally Govin had mentioned earlier that Mehul Choksi possesses the citizenship of another Caribbean country besides Antigua and Barbuda.

As per authorities, Mehul Choksi was captured by four police officials of Dominica who stated that there was nobody with him when the police discovered him. He was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Dominica from a beach near the capital city Roseau.

It is noteworthy that after the arrest of Mehul Choksi, there no chance that he would accept his escape as it would eventually make him fly back to India. He was under the red corner notice from Interpol, which means he cannot travel out from the country he is residing in. Moreover, he is on bail in Antigua and Barbuda and in that case, he would also be repatriated to India. So, it is impossible to accept that he deliberately left Antigua and Barbuda.

None of Mehul Choksi’s family members or lawyers said anything when Choksi left Antigua and Barbuda; not even a single word came from their side even after his arrest. As long as things were going as planned, they chose to stay quiet. But, after the plan took an unexpected turn, the lawyers, LOP’s of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and Mehul Choksi’s wife got together to plan the layout of abduction, which they have not been able to prove till now. There are also some allegations on a European woman which Priti Choksi alleges that Mehul Choksi went to meet during the evening of May 23, but it still remains suspicious why Priti Choksi did not speak up about it before? She only made allegations after Choksi and his lawyers alleged her in the cooked up conspiracy. Making the information more credible, 2 persons who were sailing in Calliope of Arne have stated to the media that no police or other official has reached out to them till now, and they are ready to assist the police in this regard. This statement has made it more difficult for Mehul Choksi to stand his abduction story in the Dominican court.

Most of the people who are alleged in the story are not in a hideout; instead, they are open in public and have asked government authorities to become a part of the investigation to help solve the multi-fold perplex matter. What was the need of meeting opposition leaders? some questions remain unanswered.

Author: Adrian Frederick, Senior Advocate

Antigua and Barbuda