Mehul Choksi arrested in Antwerp: All about the fugitive billionaire’s ₹13,000-crore PNB Scam

Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi, wanted in the ₹13,000-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, has been arrested by Belgian authorities in Antwerp, according to a PTI report. The arrest was made on April 12 (Saturday) at the request of Indian agencies—including the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED)—based on two non-bailable warrants issued by Mumbai courts in 2018 and 2021.
Choksi, who currently holds Antiguan citizenship, had been residing in Belgium for the past six months. He was detained from a hospital where he was undergoing treatment for blood cancer. Media reports claim that he was planning to move to Switzerland for further medical care when the arrest was made.

Indian authorities had reactivated extradition efforts in September 2024—shortly after Interpol removed the Red Corner Notice—an international request issued by Interpol to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action—against him. Despite the setback, the ED and CBI submitted fresh requests to Belgium, citing Choksi’s ability to travel internationally as evidence against his claim of being unfit for travel.

Choksi is reportedly detained in a Belgian detention centre.
While India pushes for his extradition, the process is expected to face legal hurdles. Choksi is likely to file for bail on health grounds and invoke a prior allegation of a “kidnapping attempt” by Indian operatives in Antigua as part of his defence.

“The process we have to follow when we are dealing with a foreign country depends on the country that we are dealing with. The laws and the legal systems are going to take place. It takes a lot of time, but I hope they can get him back. That's only hope because he's not going to take it easy. He has a fleet of lawyers from the best of the world… (and) has a lot of money,” PNB scam whistle-blower Hariprasad SV told ANI.

However, Indian officials are optimistic that even if granted bail, he will not be allowed to leave Belgium. India is also exploring deportation as an alternative route to bring him back to face trial.

Everything you need to know about Mehul Choksi and the PNB scam
A prominent figure in India’s diamond industry, Mehul Choksi owned Gitanjali Gems—a jewellery brand with outlets across India and abroad. Born in 1959 in Mumbai and educated in Gujarat, Choksi was the protagonist of a rags-to-riches story, living a lavish life with his wife Preeti and their three children. But behind the glitz, a massive banking fraud was unfolding.

In early 2018, India’s second-largest lender, Punjab National Bank, revealed it had been defrauded of over ₹13,500 crore (approximately $2 billion at the time). The complaint named Choksi, his nephew Nirav Modi, and top executives of Gitanjali Gems.

The scam involved the fraudulent issuance of Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs), facilitated through bribed officials at PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. These LoUs—essentially bank guarantees—were not recorded in the bank’s core systems, allowing the scam to go undetected for years.

The investigative agencies relied on evidence and testimonies from key individuals in the jewellery brand and the bank.

Choksi fled India in January 2018, just days before the scam became public. But his escape was premeditated—he had already secured citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 under its Citizenship by Investment Program. Antigua, at the time, did not have an extradition treaty with India, making it an ideal refuge.

Meanwhile, his nephew Nirav Modi also fled to the UK, where he has been fighting extradition since 2019 and remains in a London prison.
In India, the ED and CBI registered multiple cases against Choksi and Nirav Modi for cheating, criminal conspiracy, and corruption. The ED also began proceedings to declare Choksi a Fugitive Economic Offender (FEO) under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, allowing authorities to confiscate his assets.

In May 2021, Choksi mysteriously vanished from Antigua and surfaced in Dominica. He claimed he was abducted by Indian operatives, beaten, and taken by boat to Dominica in an alleged attempt to forcefully deport him. India denied the charges, but the Dominica High Court took his claims seriously and returned him to Antigua on July 15, 2021, after dropping the illegal entry case.

In the years that followed, Indian agencies continued tracking him. Back in India, the ED and CBI attached multiple properties and accounts linked to him. By December 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Parliament assets worth about ₹2,566 crore linked to Choksi and others had been restored or sold to recover dues.

In September 2024, the CBI and ED reactivated extradition requests to Belgium, even after Interpol had removed a Red Corner Notice against him.
By late 2024, Choksi had surreptitiously relocated to Belgium—specifically to Antwerp, a global diamond hub where he had longstanding business ties. His lawyer told a Mumbai court that he had moved there for cancer treatment. Indian officials argued that if Choksi was medically fit to travel from Antigua to Belgium, he could also return to India for treatment. Choksi was reportedly living in Antwerp with his wife Preeti, a Belgian citizen. He had also obtained a Belgian residency card and was allegedly preparing to move to Switzerland for further medical care.