Last Updated on April 8, 2023, 6:17 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Mehul Choksi- a fugitive diamantaire is again duping thousands of people for his own benefit. After fooling world’s largest democracy, Mehul Choksi is now on his path to waste the money of innocent tax payers in Antigua and Barbuda.
In a bid to escape extradition to India, Choksi has been misleading the authorities with his self-framed narrative of abduction, and forcing the government to utilize official resources to investigate his self-written plot. All these efforts are being made by the fugitive just to delay his extradition back to India, where he is wanted in a USD 2 billion banking fraud.
Mehul Choksi- who owned Geetanjali Group in India, was accused of fraud and money laundering and subsequently fled the country in 2018. He fled to Antigua and Barbuda and applied for citizenship, which he was granted in November 2018. In an effort to strengthen his extradition case to India, Choksi has been portraying himself as the victim of constitutional and human rights violations. Notably, the 63-year-old utilized his fake resources to get citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda, and lied on his application form. Subsequently for which the Antigua and Barbuda government filed to dismiss his citizenship, and a case is currently ongoing.
Just ahead of a verdict on his extradition court in Antigua and Barbuda, Mehul Choksi again plotted a new plan. He narrated a what is believed to be a fake kidnapping, just one of his efforts to escape extradition which is evidently proven through the revocation of his red corner notice by Interpol citing that he is facing torture and his human rights have been violated. He stated that he is facing inhumane treatment and torture, however, the excuse was recognized as a lame joke by the people of Antigua and Barbuda but many authorities still believes his story.
So many locals believe that the fake kidnapping narrative prepared by Mehul Choksi tarnished country’s image on international platforms, which subsequently resulted in backlash to the tourism and hospitality industry. The false information provided by Choksi to secure Antiguan citizenship also tainted the prestigious citizenship by investment programme.
The plotting of fake kidnapping and now claims of being tortured are just to strengthen his extradition case to India. The money of taxpayers has been misused by him for paying off his legal expenses such as the payment of his expensive lawyers and bribing the government officials. All these actions of Mehul Choksi have never benefited Antigua and Barbuda as they tarnished the integrity of the country across the globe. The notorious case of Mehul Choksi has blemished the national image of the country which has massively impacted its Citizenship by Investment Programme. Along with that, the tourism sector has been widely impacted by the visitors taking the country as the one that provided shelter to criminals like Choksi.
Not only this, Mehul Choksi is considered the prime source for promoting bribery culture in the country as he bribed the officials of the government of Antigua and Barbuda and make them manipulate the evidence against him. In his report, Mehul Choksi cited that he managed to get certain type of information from his sources, however the information labelled as “sensitive
was reportedly accessed by him by bribing officials. As per reports, he has been promoting the bribe culture in Antigua and Barbuda, and corrupting the system.
The citizens of Antigua and Barbuda are raising questions about his efforts to escape India and asking him if he is so honest and innocent why he is not returning to his native land. They are stating Choksi should return to his country and provide clarification to all his alleged criminal cases in India.
While showing their aggression against Choksi, James Williams- A teacher in Antigua and Barbuda School stated,” Mehul Choksi is just a criminal who looted the taxpayers of his home country, and now looting the innocent people of Antigua and Barbuda. He is pretending to be an honest and innocent person who is using the country to escape the criminal proceedings India.”
Along with that another Taxpayer named Hendrey Adverts also criticized Mehul Choksi and asserted, “Any person who himself became the reason for the misery of innocent people can’t claim to be the victim of human rights violation. Mehul Choksi violated human rights and the constitution and cheated people can’t demand justice.”
While talking about his kidnapping case, a 65-year old Taxpayer named James Thomas added,” Mehul Choksi was the mastermind behind his abduction plot as he just wanted to escape his crimes. The kidnapping story of Choksi has no leg to stand and various facts and figures proved it just a bluff nothing more than that.”
Gilbert Samuel said,” He managed to get rid of his red corner notice by bribing the investigation officials in his case. But this doesn’t mean he is an innocent guy. He is just pretending to be innocent but in reality, he is the only mastermind of his several plottings and fake stories. Mehul Choksi used their money to pay off the salary of his lawyers and his bribed the legal officials so that the case can turn in his favour.”
Browne Roberts- a 55-year-old Taxpayer mentioned,“Mehul Choksi’s claims of being the victim of torture and inhumane behaviour is another fake story just like his framing of a kidnapping plot.”
Mehul Choksi fled to Antigua and Barbuda and become its citizen by narrating fake stories to the agents of the Citizenship by Investment Programme. Choksi was awarded the Citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda, he had been using the local resources for his own good, and failed to make any investments for the betterment of the country. He had been utilizing the local resources, and never bothered to be a responsible citizen of the country.
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.
