Mehul Choksi’s lawyer on Monday said they will appeal against his arrest in Belgium, two days after the 65-year-old diamantaire, wanted in connection with the massive Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, was taken into custody by the Belgian police.
Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for allegedly defrauding the bank of more than Rs 13,500 crore in 2018.
Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, said they would file an application against his arrest and would also oppose India’s extradition request.
“My client is not a flight risk. He is extremely sick and is undergoing treatment for cancer,” Aggarwal told reporters in Delhi while citing grounds for Choksi’s appeal.
“We believe that it is a political case,” he said.
Mehul Choksi fled India weeks before details of his alleged role in the PNB scam case became public.
The bank had filed a criminal complaint against several entities, including Choksi, Modi and the managing director of his firm, Gitanjali Gems. It was alleged that they used letters of undertaking (LoUs) and foreign letters of credit (FLCs) by bribing officials of the bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai.
Choksi flew to Antigua and Barbuda and took the citizenship of the Caribbean nation through the investment programme.
In 2021, he had gone missing from Antigua but was later found in Dominica.
Last month, the Belgian foreign ministry confirmed to NDTV that Choksi was in the European country.
According to reports, he was living in Antwerp with his wife, Preeti Choksi, a citizen of Belgium, after obtaining a ‘residency card’ in the country.
He was reportedly planning to move to Switzerland before his arrest.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last year said that properties worth Rs 2,565.90 crore had been restored or sold off to pay back the debts of wanted individuals like Choksi.
Nirav Modi, who also fled India in 2018, was arrested in Britain the next year and remains in custody there. He has lost one extradition appeal.
