CBI sends fresh proof before Mehul Choksi's hearing
Ahead of an Antwerp court's scheduled hearing of jailed fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi's bail plea on Friday, India has sent fresh evidence in four more bank fraud cases – other than the Punjab National Bank (PNB) case – along with warrants to the Belgian authorities in a bid to strengthen its extradition request, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Indian authorities are also likely to hire a legal team in Europe to assist the local team of Belgian prosecutors during the extradition proceedings, they added.
Choksi, 65, was arrested on April 11 by the Antwerp police based on an extradition request sent by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last year and has been lodged in a prison there for over a month now. While rejecting his plea for bail on April 22, a court of appeal in Antwerp said fears about him fleeing are legitimate.
CBI filed six bank fraud cases against Choksi and his companies between 2018 and 2022 involving amounts totaling nearly ₹13,000 crore.
An official familiar with the development said: 'Last year, along with an extradition request sent in August, we sent evidence and non-bailable warrants issued by Indian courts against Choksi in two cases – the February 2018 PNB case in which Choksi is accused of swindling ₹6,097 crore and the May 2022 case pertaining to a ₹25 crore fraud involving IFCI '.
'We have now sent fresh evidence and warrants to the Belgian authorities to strengthen our existing extradition request against Choksi and ensure that he doesn't get bail', this officer added.
The four bank fraud cases in which documents have been now sent are: a July 2022 case related to Choksi cheating a consortium of banks led by Canara Bank of ₹55.27 crore; three separate first information reports (FIRs) filed in December 2022 – related to cheating 28 banks led by ICICI Bank of ₹5,564 crore; cheating a consortium of nine member banks led by PNB of ₹807 crore; and another fraud on PNB of ₹375 crore.
Although extradition will be argued by Belgian prosecutors on behalf of India, a second officer said that 'CBI is also in the process of hiring a private European law firm as the Indian government is serious about bringing Choksi to India'.
Officials said that during the extradition proceedings, India will highlight that Choksi is a habitual offender who deliberately evades court proceedings so that fresh extradition proceedings are initiated in a new country,a delating tactic he has used in the past.
'We first sent an extradition request against him to the US; he fled from there to Antigua and Barbuda. As he realized that Antiguan courts may soon give an order in India's favour, he fled to Belgium. If released on bail, he can easily flee to another European country within hours,' said the second officer cited above.
Choksi's lawyer Vijay Aggarwal was not immediately available for comment.
Choksi was tracked by CBI to Belgium in July last year after which it approached the Belgian government with a formal extradition request.
The extradition has been sought under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections – 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and sections 7 and 13 (bribery) of the Prevention of Corruption act.
Besides, CBI has also invoked the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in its extradition request.
Belgium examined India's request at various levels and approved initiating action in the matter after it was convinced about the 'dual criminality' clause which is listed in the 1901 extradition treaty between two countries.
Choksi has evaded CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel money laundering probe, since 2018. After fleeing from India in January 2018, he acquired citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda.
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