ED: Mehul Choksi in Antigua with local passport

New Delhi: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi has moved to Antigua from the US and taken the pas-sport of the Caribbean country, ED sources said.

In response to a diffusion notice issued by Interpol, the Enforcement Directorate  (ED) has been informed by Antiguan authorities that Choksi arrived there this month and has taken the passport of that country.

Choksi had fled the country in the first week of January, nearly a fortnight before the surfacing of the country’s biggest banking fraud involving $2 billion.

The CBI has booked Choksi, uncle of his alleged partner Nirav Modi, in two cases related to the scam and filed chargesheet against him. A special court in Mumbai has issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

Armed with the warrant, the CBI recently moved the Interpol for issuance of Red Corner Notice against the Gitanjali group promoter, who is one of the masterminds of the PNB fraud, but it is still under process. On this basis, request for Red Corner Notice (RCN) was moved in June.

While a Red Corner Notice has been issued against Nirav Modi and his brother Nishal by the Interpol, the request for such a notice against Choksi is pending with the Lyon-based international police cooperation agency, sources said.

The issuance of RCN would mean that Interpol  member countries can arrest and extradite Choksi.

The CBI, in its charge sheets filed on May 14, had alleged that Nirav Modi, through his companies, siphoned off funds to the tune of around Rs 7,000 crore. Choksi allegedly swindled Rs 7,080.86 crore making it possibly the biggest banking scam in the country, it had alleged.