NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has asked the ministries of finance and home, apart from probe agencies CBI, ED and SFIO, to find out whether any inquiry was pending or action was being contemplated against fugitive businessman
Mehul Choksi in 2017 when his application for citizenship of
Antigua and Barbuda was being processed by the Caribbean nation.
The PMO has also compiled a list of complaints and petitions received from the public in the last few years and forwarded to the ministries and agencies concerned regarding financial irregularities by Choksi and his companies, including violation of law, according to a PMO note accessed by TOI.
The foreign ministry had earlier asked for details of cases or enquiries pending against Choksi which could establish his guilt and facilitate his extradition.
According to the note, any proceedings against Choksi around the time he applied for Antiguan citizenship (May 2017) till it was approved (November 2017) could help the Caribbean nation establish that he had “wilfully” concealed facts or made false assertions relating to his application.
Choksi had reportedly submitted Mumbai police’s clearance certificate and a purported Sebi (Securities and Exchange Board of India) clean chit to his company with his application in Antigua last year. Sebi has denied giving any such clean chit to Choksi’s companies or that it was ever approached for any clearance by Antigua.
Investigators suspect that Choksi may have forged these documents and submitted them to the Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) of Antigua. Officials said the PMO was monitoring developments related to extradition proceedings of Choksi,
Nirav Modi and
Vijay Mallya.
Meanwhile, the CBI has informed the foreign ministry that an
Interpol red corner notice (RCN) is not a mandatory requirement for Choksi’s extradition. In a communication to the ministry earlier this month, the agency said the purpose of an RCN was to locate an absconding accused which had already been achieved in Choksi’s case after confirmation from Antigua that he was their citizen.
The agency has communicated to the ministry that it has written to its counterpart in Antigua for provisional arrest of Choksi. Antigua had contended that it could not restrict Choksi’s movements as an RCN was not issued against him.
