Fugitive diamond businessman Mehul Choksi now missing from Antigua
Police in search
Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi has gone missing, after which the Antigua police have started his search. Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal has also confirmed this shortly after local reports from Antigua. Choksi’s lawyer said that his family was worried and asked me to meet him. The Antigua Police is investigating this. Police are involved in tracing the Indian businessman Mehul Choksi, whose disappearance is speculation. The lawyer said that Choksi had gone out of his house on Monday for dinner at a famous restaurant in the southern part of the island, since then he has not been seen. Choksi, accused of crores of rupees scam, fled to Antigua on January 4, 2018, a month before the mega-scam surfaced. Choksi is accused of rigging about Rs 7,080 crore in PNB fraud of Rs 13,578 crore. Choksi reportedly fled the country after committing fraud in the Punjab National Bank.
Mehul Choksi, a 61-year-old Indian businessman based in Antigua and Barbuda and owner of the Gitanjali Group, has been declared wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate. An arrest warrant is issued against Choksi in the Punjab National Bank fraud case. Choksi was allegedly involved in manipulation of the stock market in 2013. Choksi fled the country after committing fraud in public sector lender Punjab National Bank. He was later declared a fugitive.
Mehul Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi is also accused of embezzlement from state bank PNB. Nirav Modi is currently in a London jail and his bail application has been canceled several times. He is fighting a legal battle against extradition himself to India.