Mehul Choksi’s extradition requested, Indian officials to travel to Belgium

India has requested the extradition of fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi, who was arrested on April 12, the Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice said on Monday. A team of Indian officials is also scheduled to visit Belgium to see to it that extradition proceedings against Choksi could start as early as possible, sources told India Today.

The Belgian authorities are preparing for further legal proceedings that Choksi will be facing, while legal counsel will be provided for him as well, the department added.

“Mehul Choksi was arrested on Saturday, April 12, 2025. He is being detained in anticipation of further judicial proceedings. Access to his legal counsel has been assured. The Belgian Federal Public Service of Justice can confirm that the Indian authorities have introduced an extradition request for Choksi,” a spokesperson of the department was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Earlier on Monday, Choksi’s lawyer confirmed that the fugitive diamond trader, wanted in connection with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) loan fraud case, was arrested by Belgian police. The arrest came just as Choksi was planning to flee to Switzerland for medical treatment.

According to sources, Indian officials are all set to travel to Belgium for the next hearing in the Mehul Choksi case. They are already preparing a legal strategy to ensure that he remains in jail and extradition proceedings can start.

Indian authorities are hopeful that, based on the evidence, the Belgian court will accept their request for extradition proceedings against the fugitive businessman, the sources added.

Choski is accused of a Rs 12,636 crore fraud at the state-run Punjab National Bank along with his nephew Nirav Modi, his wife Ami Modi, and his brother Neeshal Modi. In 2018, Choksi fled India and took citizenship in Antigua.

Choksi, who was based in Antigua through a citizenship-by-investment program, managed to secure an F residency card from Belgium on November 15 last year. He used documents belonging to his wife, Preeti Choksi, who is a Belgian national.

After his arrest, his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal said, “My client, Mehul Choksi, has been arrested in Belgium and, at the moment, he is in custody. We will be starting the process of filing an appeal against this, and then, as a process of appeal, we will be requesting that he be pulled out of prison. The major grounds for the plea are his ill health and that he is undergoing cancer treatment”.

Choksi is currently lodged in a Belgium Jail and his bail application hearing will take place after at least a week. For this period, he will be in jail, sources told India Today.

With ANI inputs