Mehul Choksi, the absconding diamond jeweller has been detained in Belgium. He will be extradited to India in connection for his alleged involvement in the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank loan ‘fraud’ case. Choksi, his nephew and fugitive diamond trader Nirav Modi and their family members and employees, bank officials and others were booked by the two agencies in 2018 for perpetrating the alleged loan fraud at the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai.
ED alleged that Choksi, his firm Gitanjali Gems and others “committed the offence of cheating against Punjab National Bank in connivance with certain bank officials by fraudulently getting the LOUs (letters of undertaking) issued and got the FLCs (foreign letter of credit) enhanced without following prescribed procedure and caused a wrongful loss to the bank.” After the scam came to light in January 2018, Mehul Choksi fled to the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, where he had secured citizenship. The following month, in February 2018, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began its pursuit to track him down.
Who is Mehul Choksi?
Born as Mehul Chinubhai Choksi, on May 5, 1959 in Bombay, Mehul Choksi completed his education at GD Modi College in Palanpur Gujarat. Mehul Choksi has a brother named Chetan Chinubhai Choksi. Mehul Choksi is the cousin of fugitive businessman Nirav Modi.
Mehul Choksi owns Gitanjali Group, which includes the Gitanjali Gems which he took over from his dad’s leadership in 1985.
Where are Mehul Choksi’s wife and children?
Mehul Choksi is married to Priti Choksi and the couple has two children, Priyanka Choksi and Rohan Choksi. As per reports, Mehul Choksi has been living with his wife in Antwerp. Reports say he had F residency card to stay in Belgium. The F Residency Card in Antwerp (and across Belgium) is a residence permit issued to non-EU nationals who are family members of EU or Belgian citizens. It grants the holder the right to reside and work in Belgium, typically after a successful family reunification application. The card is usually valid for five years and can be renewed. It allows access to public services, healthcare, and employment, similar to Belgian nationals. After five years of continuous legal stay, holders may apply for permanent residency. The F card helps facilitate integration for families of EU citizens living in Belgium, including in cities like Antwerp. Mehul Choksi’s wife is a Belgium citizen.
While Mehul Choksi’s daughter Priyanka Choksi is married to Akash Mehta, his son Rohan Choksi is married to Snagda Talera, the daughter of Neha Talera of Talera Auto.
Professionally, Rohan played a significant role in his father’s international business operations. According to a statement by Farhad K. Wadia, former CEO of Samuels Jewelers, Rohan, along with his wife Snagda and aunt Neena Seth, oversaw Voyager Brands in Austin, Texas, acting as Mehul Choksi’s representatives in the U.S. Also, a U.S. bankruptcy court investigation revealed that Rohan held a leadership position at Samuels Jewelers, a company implicated in fraudulent activities, including the misrepresentation of lab-grown diamonds as natural stones .
In 2018, Rohan Choksi was named in a public notice issued by a special court in Mumbai, alongside Mehul Choksi and associate Sunil Varma, under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance, further entangling him in the legal proceedings related to the Punjab National Bank fraud case .
