Interpol issues Red Corner notice against Mehul Choksi

The Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who is wanted along with billionaire Nirav Modi in connection with the multi-crore PNB scam.

"The Interpol has issued a Red Corner Notice against Mehul Choksi on the request of the CBI," CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said. The RCN was issued on Wednesday.

Choksi, who fled India in the first week of January three weeks before the CBI registered a case in the over Rs 13,000 crore scam, has taken citizenship of Antigua to escape the laws of India.

In July this year, the Interpol has issued a red corner notice against Nirav, his brother Neeshal Deepak and close aide Parab Subhash in connection with the case. Nirav is Choksi's nephew and both face cases filed by CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

Challenging the Red Corner Notice, Choksi had earlier claimed that the cases against him were due to a political conspiracy. Earlier, he has also raised concerns about his security.

The Commission for Control of Files in the Interpol cleared the CBI request after perusing the documents.

The CBI has chargesheeted both Nirav and Choksi. It claimed that alleged Choksi swindled Rs 7,080.86 crore while Nirav siphoned Rs 6,000 crore. An additional loan default of over Rs 5,000 crore to Choksi's companies is also a matter of probe under the CBI.

According to the CBI FIR, Choksi's firm had approached the PNB on January 16 sought fraudulent issuance of LOU but a bank official flagged irregularities and sought cash guarantee for issuing it.