As fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi seeks bail in Dominica, his lawyers have written to Antigua & Barbuda police Commissioner on Sunday, providing names of his alleged abductors, according to Antigua News Room. Antigua PM Gaston Browne has said that based on Choksi’s allegations, Antigua police has begun probing his possible abduction to Dominica. He maintaned that his govt was taking Choksi’s allegations seriously. Dominica High Court, which is hearing Choksi’s habeas corpus petition, will hear his bail plea on Tuesday – 8 June.
Antigua police probes into Choksi’s alleged abduction
Antigua police have commenced an investigation into the possible abduction of Mehul Choksi (in file pic) from Antigua on May 23, 2021: Antigua News Room pic.twitter.com/N0haAPGMkP — ANI (@ANI) June 6, 2021
Dominica magistrate court denies bail
On Thursday, a Magistrate court in Dominica rejected Choksi’s bail plea saying that the court was not convinced that the diamantaire will stay in Dominica during the trial considering the “severity” of the matter. Choksi’s lawyers have alleged that he was kidnapped, beaten and unwillingly brought to Dominica and that he would not be able to leave the country due to ill-health and extradition proceedings in Antigua & Barbuda. Choksi is currently housed in Dominica-China Friendship Hospital under police guard.
Mehul Choksi arrested
Mehul Choksi purportedly went “missing” after going out for dinner in Antigua island on May 23 and could not be traced even though his vehicle was traced in the Jolly Harbour later. Following a yellow notice alert, Dominican authorities arrested Choksi for allegedly illegally entering the country via Toucari Beach. While Choksi is seeking to be repatriated to Antigua where he enjoys citizenship, Antigua PM Gaston Browne has now refused to grant him entry in Antigua and asked the Dominican government to directly deport him to India. An eight-member team of the CBI, the ED, and the Ministry of External Affairs had flown to Dominica to pursue the case for Choksi’s deportation, but have now returned to India.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi, have been accused of allegedly siphoning off Rs 13,500 crore of public money from the Punjab National Bank (PNB), using letters of undertaking. Owner of the Gitanjali group, a retail jewellery company, Choksi secured the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017 under the aegis of the Citizenship by Investment Programme and fled to the island nation in the first week of January 2018 and India formally sought Choksi’s extradition in August 2018. While the UK has ordered Modi’s deportation, Choksi is yet to face such heat.