Latest news with #MehulChoksi
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
Mehul Choksi sues India in UK high court for ‘kidnapping him' in Antigua
Mehul Choksi LONDON: Fugitive diamond merchant Mehul Choksi is suing the Indian govt and five other people in the London high court for orchestrating what he refers to as his 'kidnapping' from Antigua in 2021 in an alleged honeytrap plot. Choksi has claimed in the preliminary hearing that five people working for R&AW kidnapped him in Antigua and smuggled him on a yacht to Dominica in a plot masterminded by the Indian state in order to extradite him to India to face charges in the Rs 13,500 Punjab National Bank scam. Antigua police named Gurdip Bath, Barbara Jarabik, Gurmit Singh, Gurjit Singh Bhandal and Leslie Farrow-Guy as the five suspects, mostly UK-based, in the kidnapping. They are all being sued by Choksi alongside the Indian govt. They all deny the charges. The court documents were served on the ministry of external affairs by the British high commission in New Delhi. Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Choksi (66), told Justice Freedman on Monday that Choksi was filing a civil suit against the Indian govt for allegedly ordering Choksi to be kidnapped on May 21, 2021 and smuggled by yacht to Dominica. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo India denies any involvement, argues it is protected by state immunity and that the UK courts do not have jurisdiction for this case. Harish Salve KC, representing India's govt, said: 'There is no evidence of India having anything to do with the alleged events. The claimant's account is rife with non sequiturs and unsupported assumptions. Those accused seem a rather unlikely band of state-sponsored conspirators.' Choksi is currently in jail in Belgium where he is fighting extradition proceedings brought by India. Choksi first met Barbara Jarabik, a Hungarian luxury goods expert, in Antigua in Aug 2020. In May 2021 she is alleged to have asked him to visit the apartment she had rented in Jolly Harbour. A group of men of Indian origin burst into the apartment and told Choksi he was 'being detained to be interrogated by Indian agencies', Fitzgerald told the court, London's Times newspaper reported. Choksi alleges that the men told him they worked for R&AW and beat him up, left him unconscious, and tied him to a wheelchair on the yacht to Dominica to extort a false confession from him and implicate the Congress party. 'The evidence points inevitably to India being behind this — they had the motivation, they had the resources,' Fitzgerald told the court, the Daily Telegraph reported. Choksi denies the charges against him. Thenext hearing is expected in September.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
CBI asks public sector banks to act timely on sanction requests in fraud cases
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday asked the public sector banks (PSBs) and ministry of finance officers to act timely on its requests for sanction under Section 17A (for conducting investigation) and Section 19 (for filing charge sheets) under the Prevention of Corruption Act, which are key to completing probes and trial in bank frauds, people familiar with the development said. The matter was discussed with the officers of department of financial services (DFS) and chief vigilance officers (CVOs) of public sector banks (PSBs) in a meeting in Bengaluru, in which other ways to expedite investigations in bank frauds being investigated by it. The meeting assumes significance in the wake of a Delhi court recently discharging all the accused persons in a high-profile bank fraud case because several public sector banks refused to grant sanction against their 40 officers. The federal anti-corruption agency is investigating hundreds of bank fraud cases involving amounts totalling in a few lakh crores, according to an official, the meeting was important to discuss hurdles in prosecution sanction requests, delay in filing complaints, involvement of bank officers etc. 'During the day-long meeting, all pending matters pertaining to ongoing investigation and prosecution of the bank fraud cases being handled by CBI were discussed and several issues sorted out,' a CBI spokesperson said in a statement. This, the spokesperson said, was a follow up meeting after a high-level meeting was held on January 30 this year. The agenda was to enhance the interdepartmental cooperation and expedite investigations pertaining to bank fraud cases. On Tuesday, 'detailed presentations were made by CBI and PSBs on relevant operational issues. Many aspects were discussed and resolved', the spokesperson said. 'A close coordination between the banks and CBI in terms of timely sharing of relied-upon documents was acknowledged. Further efforts to streamline procedures and ensure proactive cooperation in matters related to obtaining approvals/sanctions under Section 17A and Section 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act were also emphasised,' said the spokesperson. Apart from overall strategy to expedite bank fraud probes, CBI and PSBs also exchanged case-specific details and deliberated on the way forward to expedite pending investigations. 'The meeting concluded with a consensus to maintain the current momentum of cooperation between CBI and PSBs. Emphasis was laid on continuing structured engagement and institutional collaboration to overcome procedural bottlenecks, expedite investigations, resolve pending issues, and ensure timely completion of investigations,' the spokesperson said. Some of the important bank fraud cases being investigated by CBI are against - businessmen - Nirav Modi,Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi and Jatin Mehta, former ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar, Rishi Agrawal of ABG Shipyard Ltd, Kapil and Dheeraj Wadhawan of Dewan Housing and Finance Ltd (DHFL), Rana Kapoor (Yes Bank founder) and Sanjay Singal of Bhushan Power and Steel Ltd. Between 2018 and 2020 alone, CBI registered cases in bank frauds involving in excess of ₹1 lakh crore. In 2020, it filed over 200 cases, involving bank frauds of ₹70,000 crore, the highest ever in a year. In 2024, it registered 95 cases involving amounts worth over ₹8,000 crore.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Mehul Choksi takes ‘kidnapping' allegations against India to UK court; claims denied
Mehul Choksi, the businessman wanted in India to face charges in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, is suing the Indian government and five individuals in the High Court in London as conspirators for his alleged 'kidnap, torture and attempted rendition'. The Indian authorities have denied the allegations and objected to the UK jurisdiction on the basis of 'state immunity' and also sought permission for expert evidence on Indian law and the Indian Constitution to be taken into account. During a case management hearing listed before Justice Freedman on Monday, the court was told that Choksi claims to have been tortured back in May 2021 as part of a kidnap attempt 'orchestrated by the government of India'. 'For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in these submissions is intended to waive or should be interpreted as waiving India's state immunity,' the court was told this week by the Indian side. Choksi was accused of making 'extremely serious allegations against India, alleging it masterminded an international plot to kidnap and harm him'. 'It is India's position that the present claim is being pursued principally with the (misguided) intention of attempting to cause embarrassment to India and obtain leverage in the Claimant's international attempts to avoid extradition,' barrister Harish Salve argued on behalf of the Indian authorities. Choksi's lawyers, led by barrister Edward Fitzgerald, allege that there was a collusion between five individuals in the attack on him in Antigua to be forcibly taken to Dominica in the Caribbean with the purpose of being 'rendered' to India. 'The Defendants thereby entered into an unlawful means conspiracy whereby the Defendants agreed to, and then did, inflict unlawful and injurious acts on the Claimant by means of assault, battery, false imprisonment, unlawful detention, and/or unlawful restriction of liberty,' Choksi's legal claim reads. The businessman, meanwhile, remains in custody in Belgium, fighting against his extradition to India. He is wanted in India along with his nephew, Nirav Modi, who remains behind bars in London after repeated attempts at bail have been denied by the English courts. There are three sets of criminal proceedings against Nirav in India – the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case of fraud on PNB, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) case relating to the alleged laundering of the proceeds of that fraud and a third set of criminal proceedings involving alleged interference with evidence and witnesses in the CBI proceedings. In April 2021, then UK home secretary Priti Patel had ordered his extradition to face these charges in the Indian courts after a prima facie case was established against him. But recent court hearings in London have alluded to a "confidential" impediment to his extradition, believed to be an asylum application.
Scroll.in
3 days ago
- Business
- Scroll.in
Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi alleges India planned his 2021 abduction
Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi on Monday accused India of orchestrating his abduction from Antigua and Barbuda in 2021 to extradite him in connection with the Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, Reuters reported. Choksi, who was arrested in Belgium in April, is one of the prime accused in the case, along with his nephew Nirav Modi. He had fled India for Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, a few weeks before the fraud came to light, and became a citizen of the Caribbean nation. Choksi has since been living in Belgium with a residency card. In July 2021, Choksi had accused Indian agencies of trying to abduct him. The businessman had gone missing on May 23 that year from Antigua and Barbuda, and was detained in Dominica the next day. On Monday, Choksi's lawyers told London's High Court that only India had the motivation and resources to abduct him. In the civil suit, Choksi claimed that New Delhi used five persons from the UK to abduct him and torture him while forcibly taking him to Dominica, The Wire reported. This attempt was allegedly foiled by a Dominican policeman who turned whistleblower and exposed Choksi's presence on the island. India's lawyer Harish Salve said 'there is no evidence of India having anything to do with the alleged events', Reuters reported. Indian authorities have also objected to the UK court having jurisdiction in the matter based on 'state immunity', PTI reported. They have sought permission for expert evidence on Indian law and the Constitution to be taken into account. The PNB fraud came to light in February 2018 when the bank informed the stock exchange BSE that it had detected 'fraudulent and unauthorised transactions' worth Rs 11,380 crore at a branch in South Mumbai. A few officials of the public sector bank had allegedly issued fraudulent Letters of Undertaking to Modi's companies, resulting in the loss of Rs 6,097.6 crore to the bank. Choksi had also defaulted on another loan he had taken from ICICI Bank. After being detained in Dominica, he was charged with illegally entering the island nation. The Dominica government had declared him a prohibited immigrant. However, he maintained that he was abducted and taken to Dominica to be interviewed by an Indian politician. After 51 days in prison, Choksi was given bail by the Dominica High Court on medical grounds. In May 2022, illegal entry charges against him were dropped.
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Telegraph
Diamond tycoon ‘kidnapped and smuggled onto yacht in honeytrap plot'
A diamond tycoon was kidnapped and smuggled via yacht across the Caribbean in a honeytrap plot, the High Court has heard. Mehul Choksi was taken from Antigua to Dominica as part of an alleged Indian intelligence operation. The 66-year-old claims his abductors hoped to extradite him back to India, where he is accused of involvement in the country's biggest bank fraud. He is suing the Indian government, claiming it plotted the kidnapping, alongside the five individuals said to have carried it out in 2021. Choksi is wanted in connection with Nirav Modi, his diamond magnate nephew. Modi, known as the Diamond King, saw his jewellery empire collapse in 2018 when Indian authorities accused him of overseeing a £1.3 billion 'Ponzi-like' fraud scheme. The 54-year-old has been in a British prison fighting extradition to India since his arrest in 2019. Edward Fitzgerald KC, representing Choksi, told a preliminary hearing that only India had the ability to carry out the kidnapping. 'The evidence points inevitably to India being behind this – they had the motivation, they had the resources,' he said. The court was told an investigation by Antigua police found five UK-based individuals – Gurdip Bath, Barbara Jarabik, Leslie Farrow-Guy, Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Singh Bhandal – were involved. All deny wrongdoing. 'Interrogated by Indian agencies' The hearing was told Jarabik, a 35-year-old Hungarian luxury goods expert who was living in England, asked Choksi to visit her apartment on the island. However, upon his arrival, a group of men detained him and told him he was being 'interrogated by Indian agencies', it was heard. Choksi alleges he was beaten in a failed attempt to extort a false confession and implicate India's political opposition, which he said pointed to state involvement in the incident. He was then said to have been taken from the yacht by the Dominican coastguard vessel. Despite India applying to extradite him to his native country, he was freed on bail two months later. India's lawyer Harish Salve said in court filings that 'there is no evidence of India having anything to do with the alleged events'. India argues it has state immunity.
