Mehul Choksi's 8-Year Fugitive Run Ends: What Led To His Arrest And What Happens Next?

Mehul Choksi, the fugitive billionaire behind the infamous ₹13,000 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, has been arrested after evading authorities for over eight years. Choksi, who fled India in 2018, was arrested in Belgium following a request by Indian authorities. His arrest has raised hopes of a possible extradition back to India, where he faces serious charges for his involvement in one of the largest financial frauds in the country’s history. The fraud, which came to light in 2018, involved Choksi, his nephew Nirav Modi, and other associates using fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) to secure overseas credit and loans from other Indian banks. This scam, executed with the help of corrupt PNB employees, allowed Modi’s firms to bypass the bank’s core systems, resulting in massive financial losses. Despite the scale of the fraud, Choksi managed to flee India just before the scandal was made public, leading to widespread questions about leaks within the agencies. After fleeing India, Choksi took refuge in Antigua and Barbuda, where he became a citizen through the Citizenship by Investment program. Indian authorities, however, have relentlessly pursued him. In 2021, Choksi mysteriously went missing from Antigua, later turning up in Dominica, where he claimed to have been abducted and tortured. Despite his attempts to avoid extradition, he was arrested again, but a Dominican court sent him back to Antigua. Now, after years of legal battles and attempted evasions, Choksi’s recent arrest in Belgium brings the possibility of him being sent back to India one step closer. His lawyers have claimed that he has been seeking medical treatment for blood cancer, but his extradition could soon take center stage, with Indian agencies closing in on him. Meanwhile, his nephew, Nirav Modi, is still in custody in the UK, awaiting extradition.