Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond businessman wanted by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) and ED (Enforcement Directorate) for his alleged role in the ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank loan scam, has been arrested in Belgium following India’s request for his extradition. Choksi had been staying in Antwerp after getting a residency card there. Earlier this year, the CBI, through the Ministry of External Affairs, formally asked Belgian authorities to start the extradition process. Before moving to Belgium, Choksi was believed to be living in Antigua and Barbuda. His wife, Preeti, holds Belgian citizenship.

“After he was detained last Saturday, a team of three to four senior officials of CBI have been asked to travel to Belgium to complete all the procedure and documentation works,” as per the source.

Choksi is currently facing legal action under the Fugitive Economic Offenders (FEO) Act, which allows the government to seize an accused person's assets before the trial starts.

According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Choksi had planned his early escape from India. They told a special court in Mumbai last year that he became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda in November 2017, two months before the FIR was registered in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. ED also said Choksi left India on January 2, 2018, just days before the FIR was filed, calling his departure suspicious. He is the main accused in the case. Choksi, however, denied these claims through his lawyers, saying the ED had not provided any concrete evidence to back up its accusations.

In 2018, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed cases against Mehul Choksi, his nephew Nirav Modi, who is a fugitive diamond trader, and several of their family members, employees, and bank officials. They were accused of committing marked loan fraud at Punjab National Bank's Brady House branch in Mumbai.

Choksi and his company Gitanjali Gems and others allegedly worked with certain bank officials to cheat the bank. They reportedly obtained fraudulent letters of undertaking (LoUs) and had foreign letters of credit (FLCs) increased without following proper procedures. So far, the agency has filed three chargesheets against Choksi. 

Nirav Modi, officially labelled a fugitive economic offender, has been imprisoned in London jail since 2019 after being arrested following a legal request from the ED and CBI concerning the PNB fraud case. He is currently fighting efforts to extradite him to India.