Can't Endure 41-Hour Flight Back to India, Probe Proceeding at Tortoise Speed: Mehul Choksi to Court

New Delhi: Diamantaire and PNB scam accused Mehul Choksi has written to a special anti-money laundering court seeking the dismissal of an Enforcement Directorate plea to declare him a fugitive economic offender.

In the letter, Choksi also lamented about the “tortoise speed” at which the investigation was proceeding in India, saying it would be years before trial would even begin. He also reportedly said that it would not be possible for him to endure a 41-hour flight back to India from Antigua, whose citizenship he obtained earlier this year, due to "health ailments".

According to a report in Times of India, Choksi has told the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court that he was in touch with the Punjab National Bank (PNB) to settle his loans. Choksi has alleged that the ED deliberately did not placed this correspondence before the court to mislead it, the report added.

Choksi, the Chairman of the Gitanjali Group who has taken refuge in Antigua, was one of the prime accused in the Rs 13,500-crore Punjab National Bank fraud along with his nephew Nirav Modi.

The ED in October had attached both their assets in India and abroad worth Rs 218 crore. Both left India in the first week of January, weeks before the scam was reported to the CBI.

The Interpol has issued a red corner notice (RCN) against Choksi after a request from the CBI.