Apr 17, 2025 09:56 PM IST
Mehul Choksi was arrested in Belgium on April 12 following a request from Indian authorities and is being detained in “anticipation of further judicial proceedings
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday said it is working closely with the Belgian government to extradite fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi so that he can face trial in the country.
Choksi was arrested in Belgium on April 12 following a request from Indian authorities and is being detained in “anticipation of further judicial proceedings”, the Belgian federal public service of justice said this week.
“As you are aware, based on our extradition request, [Choksi] was arrested in Belgium. We are closely working with the Belgian side for his extradition to India so that he can face trial in the country,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a weekly media briefing without giving details.
The Belgian federal public service of justice, the equivalent of the justice ministry, has confirmed the receipt of an extradition request for Choksi from Indian authorities.
Choksi has been living in Belgium to seek medical treatment since he left Antigua and Barbuda last year. During a visit to New Delhi in March, Antigua and Barbuda foreign minister Chet Greene said Choksi remains a citizen of the Caribbean nation. He also said Choksi’s citizenship was undergoing a legal review.
Choksi is wanted in India in a Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. An Interpol red notice was issued against him in 2018. It was withdrawn in November 2022 after Choksi approached Interpol, alleging Indian agents abducted him from Antigua and Barbuda in May 2021 on a yacht to Dominica.
Indian authorities have alleged Choksi was the mastermind of a ₹13,578 crore loan fraud and owed ₹7,080 crore to state-owned PNB.
