He has resided in Antigua as a citizen since 2018.
New Delhi:
Authorities in Dominica have “discontinued proceedings against fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi over his ‘illegal entry’ into the island, officials said today.
Choksi, who is wanted by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate in connection with Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, was mysteriously missing from Antigua on May 23 last year and mysteriously surfacing in Dominica .
He flew back to Antigua last July after being released on bail by the Dominica Supreme Court on medical grounds.
Choksi had challenged his case against the claim of “illegal entry,” alleging that he was abducted from Jolly Harbor in Antigua on May 23 by police officers dressed as Antiguan and Indian and taken on a boat to Dominica.
He has resided in Antigua as a citizen since 2018.
The CBI recently registered a new case against the fugitive diamond merchant and his company Gitanjali Gems for allegedly defrauding the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI).
Choksi and his cousin, Nirav Modi, are accused of defrauding the PNB totaling Rs 13,500 crore using Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) by bribing officials of the Brady House branch in Mumbai .
Choksi had taken citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 through the Citizenship by Investment program, even before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018, while Nirav Modi is in a London prison after repeatedly refusing bail, and extradition. contested to India.
