Mehul Choksi's Antigua citizenship may be revoked

Mehul Choksi. File pic

Antigua: Absconding diamond merchant Mehul Choksi's citizenship of Antigua may be revoked by the Caribbean country and he could be extradited to India after he exhausts all legal options, Prime Minister Gaston Browne was quoted as saying by a media report.

Choksi, 60, had taken the nationality of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017 using Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP) of the twin island nation. He fled India in the first week of January last year, days before scam worth R13,400 crore was detected and reported by state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB).

Choksi, promoter of Gitanjali Gems, and his nephew Nirav Modi, currently in a London jail, are wanted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI for allegedly masterminding the biggest banking fraud of India.

Prime Minister Browne said the citizenship of the billionaire diamond trader will be revoked by the Caribbean country after he exhausts all his legal options. Under the CIP, a person can take Antigua Barbuda passport on a minimum investment of $100,000 in the NDF investment fund in that country.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday refused to answer a query on reports that Antigua has revoked the citizenship of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi.

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