Mehul Choksi Challenges ED Bid To Tag Him Fugitive Offender: ET
Moneylife Digital Team 01 July 2025
Diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, a key accused in the Rs13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, has moved the special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court here seeking dismissal of the directorate of enforcement’s (ED) application for declaring him a fugitive economic offender (FEO), says a report from Economic Times (ET).
 
According to the report, since Mr Choksi is currently detained in a prison in Belgium where the police arrested him on India’s request, he is already in the constructive custody of Indian investigating agencies and, hence, the proceedings should be dropped against him, his counsel Vijay Aggarwal argued in the court.
 
In April this year, Mr Choksi was arrested in Belgium in the PNB bank fraud case. In November 2023, he was granted residency in Belgium. Mr Choksi, wanted in India for his alleged involvement in the Rs13,500-crore bank loan fraud case, was previously residing in Antigua and Barbuda before relocating to Belgium.
 
A court at Antwerp that had ordered the arrest of Mr Choksi following India’s request for his extradition, held that the charges of fraud, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust levelled against him were punishable in Belgium, according to court documents accessed by ET. However, the charge of causing evidence of the crime to disappear cannot be tried as it isn’t punishable in Belgium, the court held in its ruling on 25 November 2024.
 
Mr Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, are the main accused in the PNB case being probed by ED) and the central bureau of investigation (CBI). 
 
In December 2024, a special PMLA court in Mumbai allowed the monetisation of properties worth Rs2,565.90 crore attached or seized by the ED in Mr Choksi's PNB fraud case. 
 
"In pursuance to the order, the process of handing over of assets has been initiated and properties worth more than Rs125 crore have been handed over to the liquidator of Gitanjali Gems Ltd. The handed-over properties include flats situated at Mumbai and two factories and godowns situated at SEEPZ in Mumbai. Restitution of rest of the properties is also in progress," ED says in a release. 
 
Investigation under PMLA in the case of Mr Choksi revealed that he conspired with his associates and officials of PNB from 2014 to 2017 and fraudulently got issued letters of undertaking (LoU) and foreign letters of credit, resulting in wrongful loss of Rs6,097.63 crore to PNB. He had also taken a loan from ICICI Bank and defaulted on that loan.
 
During the investigation, ED conducted searches at more than 136 locations all over India and seized valuables and jewellery worth Rs597.75 crore pertaining to the Gitanjali group of Mehul Choksi. Further, ED says immovable and movable assets worth Rs1,968.15 crore of Mehul Choksi and Gitanjali group were attached which included immovable properties in India and overseas, vehicles, bank accounts, factory, shares of listed companies, jewellery, among others. In aggregate, assets worth Rs2,565.90 crore were attached or seized in this case and the agency has filed three prosecution complaints. (Read: Special PMLA Court Allows Monetisation of Mehul Choksi's Properties Worth Rs2,565.90 Crore)
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