Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, arrested in Belgium, is being detained in anticipation of further judicial proceedings with assured access to his legal counsel, the Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice said on Monday. India has requested the extradition of Choksi, who was arrested last week on Saturday, the department further stated.
“Mehul Choksi was arrested on Saturday, April 12, 2025. He is being detained in anticipation of further judicial proceedings. Access to his legal counsel has been assured. The Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice can confirm that the Indian authorities have introduced an extradition request for Choksi,” news agency ANI quoted the Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice as saying.
Choksi was among those booked by the CBI and the ED in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Mumbai.
It was alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems, and others “committed the offence of cheating against PNB in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs (letters of undertaking) issued and getting the FLCs (foreign letters of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure and causing a wrongful loss to the bank.”
1. Choksi has been arrested in Belgium following an extradition request by Indian probe agencies for his involvement in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan “fraud” case, PTI reported, citing official sources on Monday.
2. The action against the second “prime suspect” in this case, after Choksi’s nephew, diamantaire Nirav Modi, was taken on Saturday based on an extradition request moved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
3. Choksi, 65, was located in Belgium last year when he went there on the grounds of getting medical treatment. He had been staying in Antigua since 2018 after leaving India.
4. Sources told PTI that the Interpol Red Notice against him for arrest was “deleted” sometime back by the global police body, and the Indian agencies were pursuing him via the extradition route since then.
5. At least two open-ended arrest warrants, issued by a special court in Mumbai in 2018 and 2021, have been shared by the Indian agencies with their Belgian counterparts as part of the extradition request, the sources said.
6. Formal paperwork is being done following the arrest/detention. Choksi may seek bail on health grounds, they said. Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Agarwal, said his client was taken into custody by the Belgian police on Saturday (April 12).
7. “At the moment, he is in prison, and there (Belgium), the procedure is not to apply for bail but to file an appeal. During that appeal, a request is made that he should not be kept in detention and he should be permitted to defend himself and oppose the extradition request while not being in custody,” Agarwal told reporters. He said the “obvious” grounds for the appeal would be that Choksi is “not a flight risk, is extremely sick, and undergoing treatment for cancer.” He said their legal defense would be that this is a “political case and the human condition (in Indian prisons) was not good.”
8. Choksi, Modi, their family members and employees, bank officials, and others were booked by the CBI and the ED in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Mumbai.
9. It was alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems, and others “committed the offence of cheating against PNB in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs (letters of undertaking) issued and getting the FLCs (foreign letter of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure and causing a wrongful loss to the bank.”
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