Mehul Choksi and Neerav Modi wanted by the Indian government under the extradition treaty signed with the United kingdom in September 1922 who had fled the country in 2018 committing a major fraud with the State Bank of India, duping it of Rs. 13500 crores and thereafter seeking the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda island has been arrested and jailed in Belgium.
There had been a lot of hue and cry in India and Indian parliament earlier , especially by the opposition Congress against the BJP led NDA government for not effecting their extradition to India despite these fugitive diamond businessmen duping the Indian Bank of staggering Rs. 13500 crores which is the Indian Tax payers money. In response to these serious charges and acrimonious scenes in Parliament’s both the houses , the union finance minister Dr.Nirmala Sitaraman had in December 2024 acquainted the parliament that the properties of these diamond fugitives worth Rs. 2,565.90 have been confiscated and sold to pay back the debts of these wanted violators of India Iaws.
According to the NDTV news report this news about the arrest of Mehul Choksi, who claims himself to be a cancer patient has been confirmed by the Central Bureau of Investigating sources.
He was arrested in Belgium on Saturday and is currently in jail believed to get bail later on due to health reasons.
The NDTV news report says that the police referred to two open ended arrest warrants issued against Choksi by a Mumbai Court while placing him under arrest, Economic Times reported.
So far Kingfisher chief Vijay Malaya, the former Commissioner of IPL Lalit Kumar Modi etc are out of India abroad having become fugitive running away with hundreds of crores of Indian money borrowed from various banks.
Lalit Modi who had been accused of duping the governing body of IPL of hundreds of crores has clandestinely left India in 2010 after being suspended by BCCI from IPL commenced by him.
He has secured the citizenship of Vanuatuan island in South Pacific after surrendering his Indian Passport to the Indian High Commission in London where he was staying after leaving India.
Similarly , Vijay Malaya an Indian billionaire, owner of Kingfisher Airlines and former Rajya Sabha had fled India to United Kingdom owing 6200 crores of rupees to various banks of Indian government. According to Wikipedia despite his legal troubles and a massive debt from Indian Banks, Vijay Mallya, as per various media reports, still owns several luxurious properties around the world. In London, he owns numbers 18 and 19 on Cornwall Terrace which is a historic property built in 1823. According to various reports Choksi has been living in Antrwerp with his better half Preeti Choksi , a citizen of Belgium after seeking a residency card in the country.
