Last Updated on April 25, 2025, 5:35 AM AST by Anthony Morris
On April 12, 2025, Belgian authorities detained fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi in Antwerp, following India’s extradition request linked to his alleged role in a massive $2 billion banking fraud. Immediately, as predictable as clockwork, Choksi’s well-paid legal team cited severe health issues, claiming he was “100% incapacitated” and unable to travel.
Vijay Aggarwal, his lawyer, asserted Choksi was in Belgium for cancer treatment, arguing passionately against extradition due to the risk to his client’s health.
This scenario isn’t new. Choksi has consistently presented himself as severely ill to escape legal proceedings. Yet, questions emerge around his supposed incapacitation. How could a man who claims profound health limitations undertake a strenuous 10-hour flight from Antigua and Barbuda to Belgium, yet find an 8-hour journey from Belgium to India medically impossible.
In November 2023, Choksi quietly moved from Antigua, where he had secured citizenship under dubious circumstances, to Belgium. Interestingly, rather than applying for a temporary medical visa, Choksi obtained an “F residency card”—a long-term residency permit usually reserved for those establishing permanent residence.
If the trip was genuinely for medical reasons, a medical visa would have sufficed. This residency permit seems more aligned with someone preparing for a prolonged stay rather than temporary treatment.
The most dramatic example of Choksi’s double life came in May 2021. Despite strict legal proceedings underway to extradite him, Choksi suddenly went missing from Antigua. For days his whereabouts were unknown. When he resurfaced, it was not in India or under medical care, but in the neighboring island nation of Dominica – where he was detained for illegal entry. Choksi’s camp hastily spun a tale that he had been “kidnapped” and whisked off to Dominica by Indian agents. But this claim was widely ridiculed. The far-fetched abduction story fell apart as evidence mounted that Choksi had orchestrated an escape attempt, possibly aiming to reach Cuba (which has no extradition treaty with India).
Even Antigua’s authorities treated the kidnapping claim as “absurd”, and it was proven false when Choksi was found in Dominica under his own steam. Photographs from that episode told their own story – the fugitive being brought to Dominican court in a wheelchair, sporting a bandaged leg and an anguished expression, very much playing the part of a victim of circumstance. Yet once Dominica balked at being a pawn in his escape plan, Choksi was promptly sent back to Antigua, where he secured bail explicitly for medical treatment. It seems every narrow scrape he gets into is quickly reframed as a health crisis in progress.
Even Choksi’s purported health conditions seem conveniently timed. Despite his claims of severe medical issues preventing travel, his lifestyle in Antigua was far from that of a severely ill man. Choksi’s life in supposed exile has been anything but that of an ailing man confined by illness. In Antigua, where he resettled in 2018, he lived comfortably and even luxuriously. Notably, he became entangled with a woman on the island – a relationship that would make lurid headlines in 2021. The woman later revealed that Choksi (who introduced himself to her under an alias) courted her, took her on outings, and lavished her with gifts of diamond jewelry. She recalled how he flirted and even professed his affection, gifting her a diamond bracelet and rings (which, she later discovered, were ironically fake stones). It is a telling vignette: while claiming to be too unwell to attend court hearings in India, Mehul Choksi was apparently well enough to pursue a romantic escapade, socializing and presenting jewelry to a companion. The image of the wheelchair-bound, feeble patient that Choksi’s attorneys present in court stands in stark contrast to the man active and ambulatory on Antigua’s beaches and restaurants.
These inconsistencies extend further back. In early 2018, just before India uncovered his involvement in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud alongside nephew Nirav Modi, Choksi left India for Antigua, allegedly for medical treatment. Yet, this claim too appears dubious when critically analyzed. Antigua, though beautiful, is hardly renowned for advanced medical facilities. Contrastingly, India attracts medical tourists globally—from nations like the UAE, the UK, and the US—seeking world-class healthcare at competitive prices. It strains credibility to suggest that Antigua would offer superior medical options to India.
Dr. Ranganathan encapsulated this absurdity, remarking, “The fact of the matter is when you are saying that extradition (of Mehul Choksi) should not happen on health grounds, what next? Do you think Osama Bin Laden would say please don’t extradite me because I have kidney failure? Choksi is an allegedly white-collar terrorist, he destroyed thousands of lives, God knows how many people became bankrupt, committed suicide, and scammed Indians.” The hyperbole may be strong, but the underlying point is sharp: serious criminals cannot be allowed to hide behind a doctor’s note.
The stark reality is clear: Mehul Choksi’s repeated claims of incapacitating ill health conveniently emerge whenever extradition looms. His active social life, international escapades, and carefully orchestrated legal maneuvers speak louder than medical reports. Indian authorities and the international community must scrutinize these health claims critically, ensuring that justice is not further delayed by manipulative tactics. Allowing fugitives to use health excuses indefinitely risks setting a troubling precedent—that financial fraudsters and white-collar criminals can indefinitely evade accountability by merely producing medical certificates.
Justice delayed is indeed justice denied. It’s high time the charade ended, and Mehul Choksi faced the consequences of his alleged crimes in India.
Choksi insists that he did not “flee” at all, claiming he left India for medical reasons just before the PNB fraud came to light. In an affidavit to an Indian court, he argued the timing was pure coincidence: he departed on January 4, 2018 for a “medical check-up,” and PNB only discovered the fraud on January 16. “Hence, the allegations that I left the country to avoid criminal prosecution is without any basis,” Choksi contended. He portrayed himself not as an absconder but a patient: a heart condition, blocked arteries, and an emergency bypass surgery in February 2018, after which doctors allegedly advised him against travel. This was the start of Mehul Choksi’s health-defense saga – a narrative of a gravely ill man too weak to face the courts.
The Belgium Sojourn: Medical Alibi or Safe Haven?
Choksi’s latest gambit takes the cake. In late 2023, under the pretense of needing advanced medical care, the fugitive quietly relocated from Antigua to Belgium along with his wife (who happens to be a Belgian citizen). Antigua’s foreign minister confirmed that Choksi left the island for “medical treatment,” though he curiously retained his Antiguan citizenship while doing so. If Choksi truly sought only medical care, he could have availed a temporary medical visa abroad. Instead, he went a step further: on 15 November 2023, he obtained an “F residency card” in Belgium, a long-term residency permit. This card – facilitated by his wife’s Belgian nationality – was meant to allow him to live and travel freely in Europe. Reports indicate Choksi misled Belgian authorities with fabricated documents in his residency application, hiding his fugitive status and legal troubles. The intent seemed clear: to entrench himself in a jurisdiction where he might find it harder to be extradited, all under the guise of being a patient seeking humanitarian refuge.
By early 2025, Indian agencies got wind of his European hideout. When media reports confirmed Choksi was living in Belgium (in Antwerp, the global diamond hub he knows well), India swiftly requested local authorities to detain him. Belgian police arrested Mehul Choksi on April 12, 2025, acting on India’s extradition request. Cornered once again, Choksi’s response was, predictably, to wave the medical flag. His lawyer Vijay Aggarwal announced plans to appeal the arrest, arguing that Choksi is undergoing cancer treatment in Belgium and thus “not a flight risk”. According to Aggarwal, Choksi had “no choice” but to go to Belgium for specialized care and has been receiving oncology treatment there. The legal team’s playbook remains unchanged: delay extradition by inundating the courts with evidence of Choksi’s purported ill health, and even raise concerns about Indian jail conditions and human rights for good measure. It is telling that within days of his detention, a Belgian court was presented with voluminous medical reports – one media outlet noted a claim that Choksi is “100% incapacitated” – all aimed at proving he is too sick to be sent to India.
But observers are rightly skeptical. If Choksi’s intentions in Belgium were truly innocent, why seek permanent residency at all? A genuine patient in need of care could simply check into a hospital abroad and return home afterwards. Choksi, however, was busy laying down roots – applying for status that would let him stay indefinitely and even planning to move onward to Switzerland for further “treatment,” according to some. These maneuvers strongly suggest that medicine was a pretext, a convenient cover for escape. His ability to take a transatlantic flight to Belgium and immediately start scheming for European residency fatally undermines the claim that an eight-hour flight back to Mumbai would pose an impossible strain. The contradiction has not gone unnoticed in India: “He can take a 10-hour flight to Belgium but not face an 8-hour flight to India?” has become a common refrain of incredulity.
Meanwhile, it has not escaped comment that Antigua and Barbuda – the nation Mehul Choksi originally fled to – is hardly the pinnacle of medical sophistication. In fact, for complex illnesses like cardiac care or cancer, patients from Antigua often travel overseas (to the US or Europe) for treatment. India, by contrast, is a renowned destination for medical tourism, attracting nearly 700,000 foreign patients in 2019 alone. Even citizens of wealthier countries like the United States, UK, and UAE routinely visit top Indian hospitals for high-quality, affordable care. If Choksi truly needed cutting-edge health services, India itself could have provided it – a point not lost on officials who scoff at his excuse. The irony of claiming that he left a country with world-class hospitals to get superior care in tiny Antigua (or needing to fly to Europe) is glaring. This context makes Choksi’s assertions of helplessly having to stay abroad for his health all the more dubious.
No More Hiding Behind Health
Seven years have passed since Mehul Choksi slipped out of India, and in that time he has exhausted nearly every trick in the fugitive’s playbook. He exploited citizenship loopholes, mounted legal challenges, spun fanciful tales of kidnapping, and at every step, cried that his heart (or now cancer) simply wouldn’t permit him to stand trial.
These ploys have delayed justice for years, but they have also thoroughly exposed Choksi’s credibility. His pattern of behavior – vigorous globe-trotting and high living, punctuated by bouts of conveniently timed “illness” – lays bare the cynicism of his defense. Each medical episode seems tailored not to reflect genuine incapacity, but to buy time and sympathy from courts.
Now, with Choksi under arrest in Belgium and facing a renewed extradition push, India’s investigators are more determined than ever to cut through the smokescreen. As one whistleblower starkly put it, Choksi may be a “white-collar terrorist” whose financial crimes ruined lives on a mass scale and letting him hide behind dubious health excuses adds insult to injury. The persuasive power of that narrative should not be underestimated. Courts must, of course, consider legitimate health issues, but they must also guard against their abuse as a legal shield.
Mehul Choksi’s case is a test of whether alleged high-rolling scammers can be allowed to game the system indefinitely. The evidence suggests that his pleas of infirmity are less an honest cry for mercy and more a calculated strategy to escape justice. It is time to call out the contradiction: if Choksi can fly across oceans and conduct business from the shadows, he can answer for himself before an Indian judge. His extradition proceedings should weigh the verified medical facts, but also Choksi’s demonstrated history of subterfuge. In the end, allowing a fugitive to indefinitely dodge court on the grounds of health would set a dangerous precedent – one that says, in effect, the wealthy can outwit the law if only they carry a doctor’s note.
The Choksi saga, replete with its twists and turns, underscores a simple truth: justice delayed is justice denied. India’s public banks and citizens deserve closure in the $2 billion fraud, and that begins with Choksi facing trial. No one begrudges a man the right to medical care, but neither can illness become a free pass for fugitives. Mehul Choksi must not be allowed to hide any longer in the shadows of hospital wards and legal technicalities. His tale of perpetual ill health has worn thin. It’s time for the fugitive who cried illness to finally come home and face the music.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
