The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against fugitive Mehul Choksi alleging how he ran an organized racket to cheat customers and lenders in India, Dubai and the US. According to information received by Hindustan Times, the top financial institution was also involved in this racket of selling diamonds and assets developed in the laboratory.
The purpose of the charge sheet is to further strengthen India’s extradition request from Choksi to Antigua and Barbuda. An official said on the condition of anonymity that the charge sheet was filed a few weeks ago. However, he did not provide its date.
Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, is a key accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case. He has become a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda. He invested a certain amount there to gain citizenship. Investigators, however, say Choksi fled the country to avoid arrest.
At the same time, Choksi claims that he left India in January 2018 for a bypass surgery, not to escape scrutiny. The ED had earlier filed a charge sheet in 2018 outlining the role of Choksi and others in the PNB fraud case.
Recently, the Enforcement Directorate had taken major action against billionaire jewelers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi who had fled the country by scam of thousands of crores of rupees in Punjab National Bank. Scattered diamonds, pearls, ornaments worth Rs 1350 crores of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi were brought back from Hong Kong firms. They were hidden in a warehouse in Hong Kong. ED had reported on June 10 that 108 items of Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi had been brought from Hong Kong, including diamonds, pearls, silver ornaments. Their value has been stated to be Rs 1,350 crore.
