Mehul Choksi transferred from police custody to hospital in Dominica

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 31, 2021

Jewellery tycoon Mehul Choksi, accused of fraud in India, has been transferred to a hospital for an unnamed health complaint in Dominica, despite testing negative for Covid-19 in police custody.

 
On Sunday night, reports surfaced that Choksi was moved to the Dominica China Friendship Hospital in Roseau after police captured the accused jeweller following his arrival on the island, TNN reported. Choksi had previously named health complications as a reason he could not travel to India to stand trial for his alleged fraud at the Punjab National Bank with his nephew and fellow jeweller Nirav Modi. 
 
“I would not send fake media information,” Choksi’s lawyer in Antigua Justin Simon told the Times of India to confirm reports from various sources. “I am wary of the media, but that Dominica reporter has it right.”

Choksi’s legal counsel in India had suggested they believed that Choksi could have been taken from Antigua, where he was residing and has citizenship, to Dominica against his will. New reports have revealed that two Indian agents, named by the Times of India as Bhandal Gurjit and Singh Gurmit, took Choksi from Antigua to Dominica by boat. The two have since left for London, UK. 
 
Indian authorities are attempting to bring Choksi from Dominica straight to India to stand trial for fraud. However, Choksi’s Antiguan citizenship could mean that he has to be deported to Antigua despite the country’s prime minister Gaston Browne stating he is happy for Choksi to be extradited to India from Dominica.