According to local media, fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi was apprehended in Dominica after fleeing Antigua and Barbuda.
Choksi is currently in the custody of Dominica’s Criminal Investigation Department, according to reports in Antigua media.
The businessman, who is wanted for a Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud at Punjab National Bank, has been missing in Antigua and Barbuda since January 2018, according to his lawyer and the Caribbean island nation’s Royal Police Force.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne had previously stated that he has “no reliable information” that Choksi has fled the country and that he is most likely still in Antigua and Barbuda.
Browne said authorities were “collaborating” with the Indian government, neighbouring countries, and international police organisations to find Choksi in a statement to the Antigua and Barbuda Parliament.
He has been reported missing by a member of his family. Since then, the Antigua and Barbuda Royal Police Force has issued a statement to that effect. He stated that the statement would be shared with Interpol.
Choksi faces two cases in Antigua and Barbuda’s courts, Browne said: extradition and citizenship revocation, for which he has hired a well-known lawyer from the United Kingdom to represent him, demonstrating his willingness to stay and fight the cases.
“I do not believe that law enforcement or anyone would have contemplated Mr Choksi would have fled the country. In any case we do not have any reliable information to date that he has fled the country. It is likely he may be still here and law enforcement is utilising all the efforts including all intelligence to try and locate Mr Choksi,” he said.
According to officials here, the Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the allegations against Choksi, is verifying the reports through “formal and informal” channels, including Interpol, which has issued a red corner notice against him on the agency’s request.
Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney was quoted by Antiguanewsroom as saying that police are “following up on the whereabouts of Indian businessman Mehul Choksi,” who is “rumoured” to be missing.
Choksi, who had acquired citizenship in the island nation, was reportedly seen driving in the southern part of the island on Sunday, according to media reports.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly using letters of undertaking to steal $13,500 crore from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB).
Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018. While Modi is in a London prison after being repeatedly denied bail and is contesting his extradition to India, Choksi took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018. Following that, the fraud was discovered.
