NEW DELHI: Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, wanted in a Rs 13,500 crore loan fraud case, has gone missing in Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since January 2018, his lawyer and the royal police force of the Caribbean island nation said.
The businessman, who took citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018, was last seen on Sunday in his car.
Police recovered the vehicle after a search but Choksi could not be found, a statement from the Antiguan police said.
“Police in Antigua have started search operations for him. The family is worried about his safety. We are keeping a watch on developments,” Aggarwal said on Tuesday.
The CBI, which is probing allegations against Choksi, is verifying the reports thro-ugh “formal and informal” channels, including the Interpol that has issued a red cor-ner notice against him on a request from the agency, officials said.
The statement fr-om the Antiguan police carries a photograph of the businessman and seeks information from the public.
Antiguanewsroom, a local media outlet, quoted commissioner of police Atlee Rodney as saying that the police is “following up on the whereabouts of Indian businessman Mehul Choksi”, who is “rumoured” to be missing.
Local media reports said Choksi was seen driving in the southern area of the island on Sunday. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning Rs 13,500 crore from the Punjab National Bank using letters of undertaking
