Following Choksi’s detention, CBI and ED officers are preparing to head to Belgium for extradition coordination.
Just days after fugitive jeweller Mehul Choksi (65) was arrested in Antwerp following an extradition request by Indian investigation agencies, officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have been shortlisted to visit Belgium. They will complete documentation and coordinate with the Belgian government to execute the extradition procedure.
Choksi was arrested on Saturday, April 12, after Indian authorities submitted an extradition request. A source said following his detention and arrest, discussions began at the CBI and ED headquarters to finalize the names of two to three officers from each agency. After selection, they will start working on documentation, as there is a strong possibility that Choksi will approach higher authorities to challenge his extradition.
On Monday, Choksi’s legal representative told The Indian Express that he is in the process of filing an appeal against the arrest in Belgium. “Our appeal seeking his release on bail will mainly be on the ground that (due to) his medical condition, he is undergoing treatment for cancer. We will also be arguing that he is not a flight risk,” Choksi’s lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said.
In the coming days, a joint team of CBI and ED will go to Belgium along with their legal counsel to coordinate with their government and will also submit all the documents of their case files to execute the extradition procedure, a source confirmed. Another source added that meetings were held in both agencies by their top leadership to discuss developments and plan next steps.
When contacted, a spokesperson for the Antwerp police confirmed that they had successfully executed the arrest warrant. The action “concerns an arrest ordered by the international service, Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office, following the service of an extradition procedure and the decision declaring a foreign arrest warrant enforceable,” the spokesperson said.
Choksi, his nephew and fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi, and their family members were booked by the CBI and ED in 2018 for allegedly perpetrating a massive loan fraud at Punjab National Bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. Both investigating agencies have filed multiple chargesheets and prosecution complaints against Choksi and Modi.
