Antwerp court rejects Choksi’s bail plea, says ‘may flee Belgium’

An Antwerp court of appeal on Tuesday rejected arrested diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s plea to release him on bail, saying that fears about him fleeing from the clutches of Belgian authorities are “legitimate”, according to officials, who termed the development a major victory for Indian agencies seeking to get him extradited.

Arrested on April 11 by Antwerp police based on an extradition request of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Choksi, 64, was in prison since then and was produced before the court of appeal in Antwerp on Tuesday by the Belgian prosecutors.

The court of three judges presided over the proceedings, which took place in Dutch language.

While Choksi’s Indian lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, who has earlier appeared for high-profile accused persons in cases like the 2G scam, Nirav Modi, coal scam, Mahadev online book app, AgustaWestland deal, etc, was present in Antwerp court on Tuesday, the arguments for fugitive’s release were led by his local counsel.

Choksi’s legal team argued that he is not a flight risk and is undergoing cancer treatment, thus he should be released pending extradition proceedings, according to an officer, who asked not to be named.

“However, the Belgian prosecutors – on behalf of India – put a strong case that Choksi, after cheating Punjab National Bank, fled from India to Antigua and Barbuda, and from there to Belgium last year. The prosecutors argued that if released, he may flee again,” said this officer.

The court, a second officer said, was convinced with the Indian request and said in its order that “the fears of Choksi fleeing from the clutches of Belgian authorities, if released, are legitimate”.

“The judges observed that Choksi first fled from India to Antigua and Barbuda and acquired citizenship there. Subsequently he came to Belgium on the pretext of treatment and uniting with his family here,” said the second officer.

“The risk of evasion (of Choksi) has not been neutralized, and he should be kept in prison as provisional detention. Also, his medical condition doesn’t show any evidence that he is not receiving proper treatment in custody,” said a third officer, citing the court order.

“It’s a major victory for the Indian agencies,” he said.

Vijay Aggarwal said they will go into appeal against the rejection of bail.

As first reported by HT, CBI had tracked Choksi in Belgium in July last year, after which an extradition request was sent on August 27, 2024. The agency even sent its team twice to convince the authorities to arrest him.

Officials cited above said a second extradition request was sent by CBI shortly after August 2024 as Choksi is charged in six cases of fraud by the agency.

The extradition has been sought under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections – 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destruction of evidence), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 477A (falsification of accounts), and sections 7 and 13 (bribery) of the prevention of corruption act.

Besides, CBI has also invoked the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in its extradition request.

The Belgium government examined India’s request at various levels and approved initiating action in the matter after it was convinced about the “dual criminality” clause in the 1901 extradition treaty between two countries.

An “order of arrest” for Choksi was issued by the Belgian prosecutors on November 25, 2024.

Choksi has evaded CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is conducting a parallel money laundering probe, since 2018. After fleeing India in January 2018, he acquired the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda and was living there until July last year with his wife Priti Choksi, who has also been named as accused by ED.

The diamond businessman is accused of cheating Punjab National Bank and other banks of thousands of crores of rupees – nearly $2 billion.

CBI has filed six cases against him in 2018 and 2022.