Fraud: In which case fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi is wanted in India, know what is PNB scam

India's fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi wanted in a scam of thousands of crores, is once again in the headlines. New revelations are being made about Choksi, who is lodged in Dominica jail. In the past, his alleged girlfriend Barbara Jaberica made shocking revelations. At the same time, the Antigua government has also made many claims, but the biggest question arises that in which case he is wanted in India and how that scam got involved. Let us explain this to you in detail.

Mehul Choksi, accused of fraud of crores of rupees from Punjab National Bank, is currently in Dominica jail. On May 23, he was arrested for illegally entering Dominica from Antigua. The Dominica government has declared him an illegal immigrant. Dominica's Minister of National Security and Home Affairs Rayburn Blackmoor has ordered the police chief to take immediate steps following the law to expel Choksi from the country. Let us tell you that after the arrest of Mehul Choksi, the investigating agencies of India have also reached there in the last week of May.

Choksi will come to India before Nirav Modi

Teams of CBI and ED officials are present there to present evidence before the Dominica government and the court for his extradition. However, there has been no success in this direction so far. Here, Mehul Choksi has Antigua citizenship and has been caught by Dominica. The Antigua government is so upset with its actions that it has requested the government of Dominica to hand over Mehul Choksi to India. Mehul Choksi can come to India before Nirav Modi if there is no legal entanglement.

What is a PNB scam

In January 2018, a case of fraud of Rs 13,578 crore from Punjab National Bank came to light. In this, billionaire Heera Kaborabi Nirav Modi and his nephew Mehul Choksi are accused in this case. The first FIR was registered by the CBI on 30 January, but before that, both the main accused in this scam Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi fled from India. Later his relatives also fled from India. Since then, efforts are on to extradite both the accused. Nirav Modi is in the UK and the Home Ministry has approved his extradition.

In 2011, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi took loan from PNB Bank

Billionaire diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his associates approached a Punjab National Bank branch in 2011 for a line of credit to import uncut diamonds. Normally, the bank issues LoUs i.e. Letter of Undertaking for payment for imports from abroad, but some employees of PNB Bank allegedly issued fake LoUs to Nirav Modi's companies keeping the bank management in the dark. Not only this, the conspirators, misusing the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, gave the green signal to release the funds to Nirav and Mehul Choksi.

The scam was exposed in 2018

The case came to light after seven years when these corrupt officials retired and Nirav Modi's company requested to start a similar facility again in January 2018. The new officers caught the fraud and launched an investigation to unravel the scam. Subsequently, Punjab National Bank filed a complaint against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, and their associates for the first time in January 2018. The CBI has started an investigation in the case against Nirav Modi, his wife, brother, nephew, and business partner, alleging criminal conspiracy.