Mehul Choksi Arrested in Belgium

By Rob Bates | April 18, 2025

Mehul Choksi, the former Indian diamond mogul who fled India in 2018 following charges of bank fraud, was arrested on April 12 in Belgium, according to numerous reports.

Choksi has lived in the Caribbean island of Antigua, which has no extradition treaty with India, since 2018, after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation accused him of bilking state-owned PNB Bank. In 2021, he was arrested when he attempted to enter nearby Dominica, but he was eventually returned to Antigua.

Now the Indian government says it’s determined to bring him home.

“We are working closely with the Belgium side on his extradition, so that he can face trial in the country,” Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for the Indian ministry of external affairs, told the media this week.

On India’s Republic World news channel, Choksi’s lawyer, Vijay Aggarwal, said his client wasn’t a flight risk since he was in Belgium for cancer treatment.

“He is not a fugitive, and nothing has been proven yet,” Aggarwal said. “He’s unable to return to India due to medical reasons, but is ready to join the investigation via video call.”

Choksi’s nephew Nirav Modi also fled India in 2018 amid bank fraud accusations. In 2019, Modi was arrested in the United Kingdom, though he still hasn’t been extradited to India.

Choksi’s company, Gitanjali Gems, once owned U.S. chain Samuels Jewelers, which liquidated a year after Choksi was charged with bank fraud.

(Photo courtesy of Gitanjali Gems)