Congress spokesperson claims Mehul Choksi is registering new business in UK

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Mar 12, 2019

On March 10, just days after fugitive jewellery tycoon Mehul Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi was found to be operating a business in London, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera has claimed that Choksi has also applied to register a business in the UK and asked what government efforts are bring made to extradite him.

On Sunday, Khera released a number of documents that he believed supported his claim that Choksi is in the process of setting up a business in the UK. Choksi, accused along with his nephew and fellow jeweller Nirav Modi for fraud at the Punjab National Bank (PNB), has refused to return to India to stand trial and has been residing in Antigua where he obtained citizenship. Khera asked whether the Narendra Modi government knew about this development.
 
Khera asked whether the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) were making real efforts to have Choksi extradited. He also alleged that someone in power is protecting Choksi after having benefitted in some way from him as an explanation for why no progress has been made in extraditing him. Khera opined that the Narendra Modi government is facing uncertainty at the upcoming election and that the government has a duty to disclose whether or not they knew about Choksi’s moves. 

"Who has benefited from Choksi and who is this important, powerful man who is saving him,” Khera asked the government, as reported by the Press Trust of India. “Why the Modi government applied for the extradition of Choksi from Antigua with which India has no extradition treaty."

Khera also mentioned the fact that Choksi has been found to be registering a “shell business” in London which reportedly has a main address in Dubai.