India Hands Over Formal Extradition Request For Mehul Choksi To Antigua

Indian authorities have handed over a formal extradition request to Antigua and Barbuda for the extradition of PNB-scam accused Mehul Choksi, ANI has reported.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Rs 13,000 crore scandal, had sent the request to the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday (3 August) and has been sent over to Antigua even though India does not have an extradition treaty in place with the Carribean nation.

It was recently revealed that Choksi - who along with his nephew Nirav Modi had fraudulently acquired letters of undertaking from Indian banks, had acquired Antigua’s citizenship through the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU). Antiguan authorities have claimed that they received no adverse reports about Choksi from India, after which they granted him the citizenship.

The Mumbai police is reportedly probing how a Police Clearance Certificate (PCC) was issued by the Mumbai Regional Passport Office (RPO) to Choksi. The CIU had held a press release saying that they had received Choksi’s citizenship request with a PCC and other documents in May last year.

Choksi, the owner of Gitanjali Jewellery, is the prime suspect in the Punjab National Bank scam with the Enforcement Directorate alleging that he is the mastermind.