Dominica will repatriate diamantaire Mehul Choksi to Antigua and Barbuda, instead of deporting him to India, where the diamantaire would have to stand trial for colluding with his jeweller nephew Nirav Modi for defrauding the Punjab National Bank of about Rs 13,500 crore.
Though Choksi is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda, Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s government in St John’s is reluctant to take him back and instead wants the authorities in Dominica to deport him to India. Browne has spoken to Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and discussed about deporting Choksi to India, according to reports received in New Delhi.
Browne’s call to Skerrit raised hope in New Delhi for early deportation of the fugitive billionaire to India. But the Government of Dominica apparently decided to send him to Antigua.
The Ministry of National Security and Home Affairs of the Dominican Government stated in a press release that it was in communication with the authorities of Antigua and Barbuda (A&B) to ascertain some facts, including the status of Choksi’s A&B citizenship.
New Delhi has asked its High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Arun Kumar Sahu, who is based in Port of Spain, but concurrently accredited to Dominica, to travel to Roseau next week.
It added that after the information are provided by the A&B authorities, “possible arrangements” would be made for “repatriating” him to the neighbouring Caribbean Sea nation.
Choksi was arrested from Canefield Beach in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, on Wednesday, when local police spotted him disposing of some documents in the sea. He had disappeared from Antigua on Sunday.
New Delhi had in August 2018 requested the A&B Government to extradite him to India. He had, however, filed a lawsuit in the local High Court to challenge and pre-empt any move to strip him of the A&B citizenship and to send him back to India.
Browne asked Skerrit to send Choksi directly to India, as he enjoyed legal and constitutional protection in A&B, but not in Dominica, according to reports in the news-portals of the Caribbean Sea island nations.
Choksi purportedly alleged during a meeting with his lawyers that he had been abducted and brought from Antigua to Dominica. His lawyers are likely to file a Habeas Corpus writ in the local court in Dominica.
New Delhi has been in touch with the governments of both A&B and Dominica through its diplomatic missions in the region. India’s High Commissions in Georgetown and Port of Spain – the capitals of Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago – manage its relations with A&B and Dominica, respectively.
Choksi was apparently having a stopover in Dominica on his way to Cuba after fleeing from A&B by sea.
Dominica is often used by illegal immigrants as a stopover on their way to Cuba or the United States. The local police had detained 19 citizens of India last month when they had arrived in the island nation without valid travel documents in order to sneak into the US.
Choksi’s aide Govin told the investigators of A&B that the diamantaire had plans to travel to Cuba, according to a report on West Indies and Caribbean News Online.
When the cops spotted Choksi on the beach in Roseau and questioned him, he could not explain why and how he had travelled to Dominica. The West Indies and Caribbean News reported that scuba divers had been engaged to retrieve the documents the billionaire had thrown into the sea.
Choksi is wanted in India, as he had allegedly colluded with Nirav Modi to defraud the Punjab National Bank of about Rs 13,500 crore. The duo had left India in January 2018. The Ministry of External Affairs had in February 2018 revoked the passports issued to both of them, thus, stripping them of the citizenship of India.
New Delhi had in August 2018 sent two separate requests to the A&B Government seeking extradition of Choksi. The owner of Gitanjali Gems, however, had by then already moved the A&B High Court to bar the government of the island nation from detaining him for extradition on the request of India. Browne’s government in St John’s had conveyed to New Delhi that he would be extradited to India as soon as he would exhaust all his legal options.
Choksi had been reported missing at Johnson Point Police Station in Antigua on Sunday. He had gone missing after leaving his home at the Jolly Harbour township on the west coast of Antigua. His car had later been found abandoned by the police.
The Interpol had issued a Red Corner Notice against him long ago. The A&B authorities had also got the Interpol to issue a Yellow Notice on him after he had been reported missing.
Browne’s Government conveyed to New Delhi that it was in favour of stripping Choksi of the A&B citizenship and might do so once he would exhaust all his legal options to stall the move.
Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi was arrested in London in March 2019. His extradition to India was cleared by British Home Secretary, Priti Patel, last month, after the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London had ruled in favour of it. He, however, still has options to challenge it in the High Court and the Supreme Court of the UK.