Envoy to meet Antigua officials for Choksi's detention

India’s envoy to Guyana will meet senior officials of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda in St John’s on Monday and request them to detain jeweller Mehul Choksi, who has been accused of colluding with billionaire Nirav Modi to defraud Punjab National Bank of Rs 14000 crore.

V Mahalingam, India’s High Commissioner to Guyana, travelled to St John’s to meet the officials of the Government of Antigua and Barbuda (A&B). He will also ask the A&B authorities to prevent Choksi’s travel from the Caribbean Island nation by land, air and sea, sources said in New Delhi.

Mahalingam is concurrently accredited as India’s envoy to A&B.

Modi and Choksi fled the country in the first week of January, days before the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate launched probes against them for allegedly defrauding the Punjab National Bank of Rs 14000 crore.

Modi remains untraceable, but Choksi has of late been traced to Antigua and has in fact been granted citizenship by the A&B Government.

The Ministry of External Affairs suspended the validity of the passports of Modi and Choksi on February 16, acting on the advice of the Enforcement Directorate, which registered a case against them under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

Sources on Monday said that as soon as the MEA had received information of the likely presence of Choksi in Antigua, the High Commission of India at Georgetown in Guyana had alerted the A&B Government, both in writing and verbally. The High Commission of India to Guyana had asked the A&B Government “to confirm his presence in their territory and detain him and prevent his movement by land, air or sea”, added the sources in New Delhi.

The reports received in New Delhi indicated that the A&B Government had granted citizenship to Choksi in November 2017 – much before the scam came to light and the CBI and ED started an investigation. He had taken oath as a citizen of the Caribbean Island nation on January 15 this year.

Sources said the MEA would continue to liaise with other government agencies as well as the authorities of Antigua and Barbuda to follow up on the issue.