Absconding billionaire Mehul Choksi, who is an accused in the Punjab National Bank fraud, is a “crook” and will eventually be extradited to India, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said on Wednesday.
“Mehul Choksi is a crook and will eventually be repatriated, it is a matter of time once he exhausts his legal options,” Browne told India Today.
Choksi left India in the first week of January last year. He was given the citizenship of Antigua in November, 2017 before the PNB scam came out.
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Antigua and Barbuda, according to The Times of India, had blamed the Indian authorities for not raising a red flag on Choksi when he applied for citizenship in 2017.
Browne also said that it is “unfortunate” that Choksi was cleared by Indian officials as a person of “good standing” and later called a “crook”, NDTV’s report said.
The Prime Minister added that Choksi “adds no value to our country” and Indian officials are free to interrogate him, according to ANI. ”They can come and if they wish to interview Choksi based on his willingness to participate, it has nothing to do with my government,” he added.