Diamond dealer arrested in US$2 billion banking fraud case
Diamond dealer arrested in US$2 billion banking fraud case
Choksi, 65, was arrested last Saturday and is currently undergoing cancer treatment.
NEW DELHI/BRUSSELS: Indian-born diamond merchant Mehul Choksi has been arrested by authorities in Antwerp, Belgium, in connection with a banking fraud case worth nearly US$2 billion, his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said on Tuesday.
Choksi, 65, was arrested last Saturday and is currently undergoing cancer treatment, the German News Agency (dpa) reported.
Choksi's defense attorney requested that his client be temporarily released to allow Choksi to defend himself against extradition outside of the lockup, arguing that Choksi was not at risk of flight.
India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged that Choksi and his nephew, Nirav Modi, fraudulently obtained loans from Punjab National Bank (PNB), a state-owned bank.
The high-profile scandal came to light in 2018, when authorities detected unauthorized fund transfers worth about US$1.8 billion at one of PNB's branches in Mumbai.
The funds involved are believed to have been channeled overseas through other financial institutions, with the assistance of several PNB internal staff who allegedly conspired to facilitate Choksi and Modi's fake loan transactions.
Modi was arrested in London in 2019 and remains in a British prison, awaiting the outcome of an extradition request by Indian authorities.
According to local Indian media, Choksi is believed to be hiding in the Caribbean and with his family in Antwerp, the world's diamond trading hub, since the scandal broke.
However, the extradition status of the two suspects to India is still unclear.
Choksi's lawyers are expected to challenge the extradition on the grounds of a "politically motivated case" and also raise the issue of inhumane detention conditions in Indian prisons.
-- BERNAMA
