CBI Files Fresh Case Against Mehul Choksi, Others For Duping Canara Bank-Led Consortium Of Rs 55.27 Cr

Choksi, who is wanted in India by the CBI and the ED in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, had gone missing from Dominica on May 23 last year.

Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi. (File Photo/ PTI)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday filed fresh case aganist fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi and others for allegedly cheating the Canara Bank and the Bank of Maharashtra to the tune of Rs 55.27 crores, sources close to news agency ANI reported.

The developments comes month after the central agency lodged a new case against Choksi and his company Gitanjali Gems for allegedly defrauding the Industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) to the tune Rs 22 crore between 2014-18.

Choksi, who is wanted in India by the CBI and the ED in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case, had gone missing from Dominica on May 23 last year, forcing authorities to initiate a massive manhunt. He was taken into custody three days after he went incommunicado. 

The busineman had fleed India and shifted to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, days before CBI booked a case of bank fraud against him and his nephew, Nirav Modi and several others in bank fraud case.

Since Choksi's escape, CBI and the enforement Directorate (ED) are trying for his extradition. However, a Dominican court had restrained his deportation after hearing a habeas corpus filed by Choksi's lawyers.

Choksi was granted bail on medical grounds in July, 2021 by Dominica High Court. He returned to Antigua and Barbuda from Dominica two days after being granted bail.

While granting the bail, the court asked Choksi to deposit Eastern Caribbean dollars 10,000 (around Rs 2.75 lakh) as surety for the bail.
 
Choksi's family and lawyers had alleged that the jeweller was abducted from Jolly Harbour area of Antigua by agents of Indian agencies and forcibly taken to Dominica on May 23.

Last month, ED had filed a chargsheet againt Choksi, his wife Priti Choksi and others in connection with the PNB money laundering case. The probing agency has claimed that Priti Choksi was the key beneficiary and hiding with her husband in Antigua since 2017.