JAKARTA - A jewelry entrepreneur who is a fugitive for bank fraud in India, Mehul Choksi, was arrested in Belgium. His lawyer is now proposing legal remedies for the release of Choksi.
The Indian government sent a request for Choksi extradition prior to his arrest, a source at India's Law Enforcement Directorate told Reuters on Monday, April 14.
Badminton National Bank (PNB), India's second-largest state-owned lender by asset, announced in 2018 it found allegations of fraud worth USD 1.8 billion in one branch in Mumbai.
The bank filed criminal complaints with India's federal investigative agency against several entities including jewelry billionaires Nirav Modi and Choksi, his uncle and managing director Gitanjali Gems, saying they had deceived PNB.
Indian federal police filed charges of fraud against Choksi, Nirav Modi, and others in connection with alleged involvement in fraudulent transactions that caused heavy losses to PNB.
The two diamond tycoons denied making a mistake.
Choksi said in a letter in 2018, "the investigative body acted with predetermined thoughts and disrupted the course of the judiciary."
"The appeal will be put forward for his release, arguing that he is undergoing cancer treatment and is not at risk of escaping," said Choksi's lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal.
Choksi ditegaskan pengacara, tidak melakukan pelanggaran apa pun di Belgium.
Nirav Modi fled India in 2018 before details of his alleged role in the case were publicly known. He was arrested in England in 2019 and remains detained there despite his defeat in the extradition appeal.
Modi grew up in the center of the Belgian diamond,entrepreneurs, and Choksi frequent visits of the city, even before the financial fraud was exposed.
Diamond entrepreneurs in Mumbai saidikan Yesterday would be the ideal place for Choksi to take cover, as he got to know the people there and remains connected to those in the business.
Last week, a Canadian businessman born in Pakistan who was accused of helping organize a 2008 attack on Mumbai landed in New Delhi after the US extradited him in such a first transfer in terrorism cases.
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