Mehul Choksi Is A Crook Whose Deportation To India Is Only A Matter Of Time, Says Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne has stated that Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud accused Mehul Choksi is a “crook” who will be deported to Indian after he is allowed to exhaust all legal options available to him in that country.

It may be recalled that both the 60-year-old jeweler Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of India (CBI) for allegedly defrauding the PNB to the tune of Rs 13,400 crore.

In a recent statement, Browne said that his Carribean nation of Antigua and Barbuda has an independent judiciary and Mehul Choksi’s matter is presently before the court.

He stated that Choksi will be ultimately deported after exhausting all his appeals and he would not have received Antiguan citizenship, the authorities there had known about his alleged misdeeds.

Incidentally, the statement was made by the Antigua and Barbuda prime minister when he was in New York recently to attend the UN General Assembly's annual session.

The Rs 13,400-crore PNB fraud came to light in early 2018 before which both Choksi as well as his nephew Nirav Modi already fled the country.

Nirav Modi, 48, is currently in a London jail.

In June, the ED had told the Bombay High Court that it is willing to provide Choksi an air ambulance to bring him to India.

Choksi, who is presently holed up in Antigua had told the Bombay High Court through his lawyer that he left India purely for medical treatment and not to avoid prosecution in the PNB fraud case. He has also clained that he would return to India as soon as he is medically fit to travel.