New Delhi, Mar 24 (UNI) The Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday that the government is focused on getting economic fugitives to face justice in India and will continue to make all efforts in this regard, amid reports that Interpol has removed fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi from the Red Corner Notice.
MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, answering a query on the issue at the media briefing, said:
“On the issue of Mehul Choksi, look you used the word Red Corner notice or something had been removed. Let me just take the larger point. Our focus is on getting economic fugitives to face justice, to come back here and face justice in India, and we will continue to make all efforts in this regard.
“Specific issue that you raised regarding Red Corner notice or otherwise, I would have to direct you to the concerned agency. I think they’ve issued a detailed press release. I really don't have anything to add to that.”
The Red Corner Notice was issued against Mehul Choksi in December 2018 on a request from the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.
Mehul Choksi, the owner of Gitanjali Group jewellery firm, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, are wanted in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. They are accused of conniving with bank officials to have fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoU) and Foreign Letters of Credit issued to companies owned by them. In this case, no securities were kept by the PNB before issuing the LoUs.
In 2018, PNB submitted a fraud report to the Reserve Bank of India in the matter. The CBI filed an FIR in the case, but by then Choksi had fled abroad.
He is reported to have acquired citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017. In May 2021, he was caught in Dominica. While Choksi claimed he was kidnapped, he was charged with illegal entry by the police in Dominica. In May last year, Dominica dropped these charges against him.
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