Antwerp court hears Mehul Choksi extradition plea, next hearing in August

AN Antwerp margaret court on fri heard the arguments on Mehul Choksi’s extradition to republic of india, with elaborated grounds presented by the investigators regarding the fugitive diamantaire’s fraudulent activities while his legal team sought his release, according to people familiar with the development. Choksi is accused of siphoning off ₹6,097 crore from the Punjab National Bank and five other similar bank frauds before fleeing from India in January 2018and was arrested by Antwerp police on April 11, based on an extradition request sent by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He has already spent two months behind the bar there. On Friday, the court did not give any relief to him and the matter will now be heard in late August.As reported by HT last month, Indian investigators have submitted documentary evidence to the prosecutors in Belgium against Choksi in six bank frauds committed by him between 2018 and 2022 involving amounts totalling nearly ₹13,000 crore and court is already convinced that there is prima facie fear of him fleeing.An officer who didn’t want to be named said that “detailed arguments took place in the court on Friday but the court order was not out till late evening”. India has put forth arguments that Choksi is a habitual offender and jumps extradition proceedings wherever he is found, as seen in the US and Antigua and Barbuda, the officer cited above said. Choksi was tracked by the CBI to Belgium in July last year after which it approached the Belgian government with a formal extradition request.The extradition was sought under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections – 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and sections 7 and 13 (bribery) of the Prevention of Corruption Act.Besides, CBI also invoked the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in its extradition request.The Belgium government examined India’s request at various levels and approved initiating action in the matter after it was convinced about the “dual criminality” clause in the 1901 extradition treaty between two countries.Choksi has evaded the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) — which is conducting a parallel money laundering probe — since 2018. After fleeing from India in January 2018, he acquired the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda.