Antigua: Indian agencies gave Mehul Choksi 'all-clear'

New Delhi: Antigua has claimed it was told by Indian agencies that there was no adverse information against Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam accused Mehul Choksi when it did a background check on the fugitive billionaire before granting him citizenship in 2017, a local media report in the Caribbean nation has said.

India swiftly set the record straight, saying that the police clearance certificate (PCC) was issued to Choksi by passport office, Mumbai, for Antigua and Barbuda on March 16, 2017, since at that time there was a “clear police verification report (PVR) available on his passport”.  There was nothing incriminating or adverse against Choksi at that time since the scam surfaced later.

In another important development, Indian government sources said New Delhi is sending an extradition request on Choksi to Antigua. The request for Choksi’s extradition comes close to a request sent to the United Kingdom for extradition of another PNB scam-accused jeweller Nirav Modi. The government informed Parliament that two Red Corner Notices have been issued against Modi by the Interpol.

In Choksi’s case, while the Antiguan authority responsible for grant of investment-linked citizenship named the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) as one of the Indian agencies that gave a him a clearance, the Indian securities market regulator rejected the claim.

“Sebi has neither received any request from the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua for updates on any investigation nor provided any such information to CIU,” the regulator said.

According to reports, Choksi fled India on January 4 this year and took oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15. His citizenship there was cleared in November 2017.

According to news agency reports, Choksi’s application for citizenship in Antigua in May 2017 was accompanied with clearance from the local police as required by norms, said Antiguan newspaper the Daily Observer, citing a statement from the Citizenship by Investment Unit of Antigua and Barbuda (CIU).

Choksi is one of the alleged masterminds of the $2 billion scam in the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) and uncle of fugitive diamantaire Nirav Modi.

“The said police clearance certificate from the government of India, ministry of external affairs regional passport office, Mumbai, certified that there was no adverse information against Choksi which would render him ineligible for grant of travel facilities including visa for Antigua and Barbuda,” the Antiguan media report was quoted as stating.

The authorities in the island country did a thorough check on Choksi from open source global agencies, including the Interpol, that there was “no instance” of any derogatory information against him, it added.

The Antiguan authorities, as part of their own checks, found two instances of Sebi action against Choksi’s firms in 2014 and 2017 and sought more information on them, the report further said. It further quoted CIU as claiming that the Sebi had told authorities in Antigua that one case was “satisfactorily closed” and there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue the second matter.

As per the Antiguan media report, the CIU has said if there was a warrant against Choksi when his application of citizenship was being processed, Interpol should have been informed about it and it should have been part of national criminal database.

Under the Citizenship by Investment Program of Antigua and Barbuda, a person can take their passport on a minimum investment of $100,000 in the NDF investment fund.

The report in Antiguan media have sparked a political slugfest with the Congress alleging that detail” emerging from the Caribbean nation have “exposed the complicity and connivance” of the Modi government in Choksi’s escape.

Congress communications chief Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Loot and make them scoot is the prime policy of the Modi government. The shocking details reveal how the Modi government enacted this mega scam.”

He added, “Why did the CBI/ED not move the Interpol for a warrant against Mehul Choksi or provide the requisite evidence of criminal fraud against him? Is it not correct that this deliberate failure on part of CBI/ED in providing evidence to Interpol, led to Interpol giving a clean chit to Choksi?”

According to reports, on January 16 the $2 billion scam was detected by the Brady House branch of PNB in Mumbai, making it the biggest banking scam in the country. Choksi and his companies allegedly availed credit from overseas branches of Indian banks using the fraudulent guarantees of PNB given through letters of undertaking (LoUs) and letters of credit issued by the Brady House branch which were not repaid, bringing liability on the state-run bank, officials had said.

An LoU is a guarantee given by an issuing bank to Indian banks having branches abroad to grant short-term credit to the applicant.

CBI sources said the agency has cited three grounds on the basis of which Choksi can be extradited to India to face trial. They said the agency has underlined the principle of reciprocity where fugitives can be exchanged between two countries as and when required, principle of dual criminality which states that the alleged charge on the fugitive should be an offence in both the countries, and the United Nations Convention against Corruption to which both Antigua and India are signatories. The UN Convention urges its signatory nations to cooperate in matters pertaining to corruption, they said.

Meanwhile, in the Nirav Modi case, minister of state (MoS) for external affairs Gen. (retd.) V.K. Singh informed Parliament, “An extradition request has been received in the ministry of external affairs from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for the extradition of Modi from the United Kingdom (UK). The request has been sent by a special diplomatic bag to the high commission of India, London, for onward transmission to the UK authorities.”    

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