The ED came to know about the whereabouts of the Choksi, one of the accused in the Rs 13,700-crore PNB fraud, just a day before he landed at the VC Bird International airport in Antigua on July 8 when they officially approached the US authorities.

While Indian investigating agencies and fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi continue to play cat and mouse, it has finally emerged that fugitive diamantaireChoksi is not in the US but in Antigua, one of the two major Caribbean islands that make up the sovereign nation of Antigua and Barbuda.

India Today TV reported the probe agencies came to know about the whereabouts of the Choksi, one of the accused in the Rs 13,700-crore PNB fraud, just a day before he landed at the VC Bird International airport in Antigua on July 8 when they officially approached the US authorities.

After the Interpol issued a diffusion notice against Choksi, the authorities in the Caribbean country have also confirmed to the Enforcement Directorate about Choksi’s arrival in the country.

Mehul Choksi, as well as his partner Nirav Modi, fled the country in the first week of January, just two weeks before PNB first reported about the biggest banking scam.

Fraudsters like Mehul Choksi choose small countries like Antigua to escape from the law as these countries offer citizenship based on money power. So even if one is a fraudster but filthy rich, the country’s local laws allow that person to get citizenship in order to attract investment opportunities.

How does it all work? The countries like Antigua allow you to live permanently in their country if you can make an investment of at least $400,000 in a real estate property in an authorised area. You can also get the country’s passport by investing at least $1.5 million in different projects. Surprisingly, you don’t necessarily need to be physically present in the country during the entire process.

The ED had filed chargesheet against Choksi and 13 others in the PNB scam on June 28 under the PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering) Act. Choksi and Modi are accused of defrauding the public lender by illegally obtaining Letter of Undertaking (LoUs)/Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs).

According to the ED, three companies of Mehul Choksi namely — Gitanjali Gems Ltd, Gili India Ltd and Nakshatra Brands Ltd — were fraudulently issued LoUs to the tune of Rs 3,011.39 crore, and fraudulently got the credit limit of these FLCs enhanced to the tune of Rs 3,086.24 crore. Total proceeds of the crime now stand at Rs 6,097.63 crore.

The special PMLA court in Mumbai issued a non-bailable warrant against diamond merchant Mehul Choksi and five others on July 6. Other five persons against whom a similar warrant has been issued include Nehal Modi, the brother of Nirav Modi, Deepak Kulkarni, Jayesh Kumar Shah, Sunil Varma, and Rakesh Gajra.

For more on this story go to: https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/mehul-choksi-no-more-in-the-us-acquires-passport-of-caribbean-nation-antigua/story/280633.html