By: Shilpa Sharma
THE DOMINICA high court denied bail to fugitive Indian businessman Mehul Choksi in the case of illegal entry into the island country.
The high court on Friday (11) concluded that Choksi was a “flight risk”, did not have any ties with Dominica and the court could not impose any condition to stop him from leaving the country.
He approached the high court after a magistrate rejected his bail petition on June 2.
Choksi went missing on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since 2018 as a citizen.
He was detained in neighbouring Dominica over illegally entering the Caribbean Island.
His lawyers alleged that he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by policemen looking like they were from Antigua and India and brought to Dominica on a boat.
Antigua police began investigations into Choksi’s alleged kidnapping to neighbouring Dominica after his lawyers filed a complaint there.
The diamantaire is wanted in a £1.32 billion loan fraud case relating to the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in India.
Choksi is one of the main defendants in the loan fraud case related to the PNB, while his nephew Nirav Modi–also wanted in the case–is currently lodged in a London jail.
Modi is contesting his extradition to India after repeated denial of his bail by courts.
