New Delhi:
Nearly four years before his arrest in Belgium, Wanted businessman Mehul Choksi was arrested for illegal entry into the Dominican Republic. He then alleged that Indian agents forcibly removed him from Antigua and Barbuda, where he fled the Punjab National Bank just before the fraud came, and took him to the Republic of Dominican.
Diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who has a Gitanjali group, is an accused in the 12,636-crores fraud in the state-driven bank. He escaped from India in January 2018 and reached Antigua, where he took citizenship by investment. In May 2021, Choksi appeared in the Republic of Dominican and was arrested for illegal entry. He alleged that he was kidnapped, tortured and brought to the Republic of Dominican on a boat.
After the alleged kidnapping, a woman’s name surfaced. Choksi’s wife Pita alleged that she met Hungarian National Barbara Jabarika in 2020 and alleged that she was part of a honeytrap scheme. Barbara broke the allegations and reports that she was Choksi’s “girlfriend”. I have my own income and business. I want their cash, support, hotel booking, fake jewelery, or anything. ,
He said that Choksi introduced himself as a secret and he first met in August 2020. “Raj (Mehul Choksi) was the one who contacted me, asked for my number and ‘Mujhse Dosti Ki’, completely, contrary to what his wife said,” said Barbara. He also said that Choksi had told him that he could meet in Cuba, suggesting that he had planned to go there.
However, Choksi alleged that Barbara did not try to help her when she was being beaten and placed on a watercraft to move from Antigua and Barbuda to Dominica. He also said that the way Barbara behaved, “he was an integral part of this entire plan”.
Priti Choksi broke Barbara’s claims that she knew Choksi as Raj. “How is it possible that despite the attention of all the media around the case and public grabbing, that this woman had an Instagram account with thousands of followers, was all in the dark about all this, and did not come out to speak in defense of his ‘friend’?” He said. “These fake claims are only an attempt to present the wrong picture of my husband,” she said.
Choksi was imprisoned in the Republic of Dominican for 51 days, before he was relieved from the British Queen’s Privy Council and returned to Antigua, thwarting India’s extradition efforts. Later, illegal entry allegations against him in the Republic of Dominican were removed.
In March 2023, Interpol took a red notice against Choksi. A red notice is a request for law enforcement worldwide to find a pending extradition or surrender person to find and arrest provisionally. In response to the Interpol Move, the CBI stated that Choksi approached international forums, including commission to control the interpol, “to create” variations with “false claims, fabricated dramatic stories and fiction” to create “variations with” variations “with” variations “because he faces India’s extradition possibilities. The CBI also said that an interpol red notice is “neither pre -required nor needed for extradition proceedings”.
Last year, Indian agencies came to know that Choksi was in Belgium, and immediately alerted the agencies there. All documents about the fraud case were also shared. The Belgian police arrested Choksi on Saturday and found that he was trying to flee Switzerland. Choksi’s wife Priti is a Belgian citizen. According to reports, Choksi presented documents fabricated to get a residency card in Belgium. He also hid that he was a citizen of India and Antigua. Earlier, in February, Choksi’s lawyer told the Mumbai court that he could not return to India as he was in Belgium to treat blood cancer.
Choksi’s lawyer said that he would file an application in Belgium, which will provide relief on health basis. Vijay Aggarwal said that an important basis for the appeal would be the health of Choksi. “He is undergoing cancer treatment and wants to continue it in Switzerland. He is currently not at risk of flight,” he said. The lawyer cited security concerns if Choksi is brought back to India. “We believe that as soon as he comes, he will receive inhuman treatment. He wants to protect himself from it,” he said.