Indian fugitive accused in nearly $2bn bank fraud arrested in Belgium, source says

Delhi had sent a request for jeweller Mehul Choksi's extradition prior to his arrest, but he is likely to challenge it on medical grounds

Mehul Choksi. Photo courtesy: ANI via X

Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi, the jeweller accused of being involved in an alleged fraud of nearly $2 billion against Punjab National Bank in 2018, has been arrested in Belgium, a source with India's Enforcement Directorate told Reuters.

The Indian government had sent a request for Choksi's extradition prior to his arrest, but he is likely to challenge it on medical grounds, the source added.

Punjab National Bank, India's second largest state-run lender by assets, had announced in 2018 that it had discovered alleged fraud worth $1.8 billion at a single branch in Mumbai.

The bank had filed a criminal complaint with India's federal investigative agency against several entities including billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and Choksi, his uncle and the managing director of Gitanjali Gems, saying they had defrauded PNB.

Last week, a Pakistani-born Canadian businessman accused of helping orchestrate the 2008 attacks in Mumbai landed in New Delhi after the US extradited him in the first such transfer in a terrorism case.