New Delhi: Antigua has asserted that Indian fugitive billionaire Mehul Choksi was granted citizenship only after getting documents from Indian authorities without any adverse remarks, including a police clearance certificate from the Ministry of External Affairs.
Choksi had acquired a passport under Antigua and Barbuda’s Citizenship by Investment (CIU) scheme, which requires the applicant to make a “a significant economic contribution to the Country”. The five-year-long passport allows the holder to have visa-free travel to 132 countries.
In a press release, CIU said on Thursday that Choksi’s application submitted in May 2017 had all the necessary documents, including a police clearance certificate issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The details were made public by CIU unit “in an effort to provide clarity and address misinformation that has been circulating in the public domain”.
The press release, published in the Antigua Observer, stated:
The said police clearance certificate from the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, certified that there was no adverse information against Mr. Mehul Chinubbhai Choksi which would “render him ineligible for grant of travel facilities including visa for Antigua and Barbuda.
In New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar said that a police clearance certificate is issued by regional passport authorities, “if there is a clear Police Verification Report (PVR) in the system”. The police verification reports are obtained at the time of obtaining a new passport or renewing an old one. “In case there is no PVR, then a fresh PVR is obtained prior to issuance of a PCC,” he said.
Kumar said that Mehul Choksi’s PCC was issued by RPO, Mumbai on March 16, 2017, on basis of a “clear” PVR. “As the PVR of Mehul Choksi was clear in the system at the time of issuance of PCC, the process followed by Passport Office, Mumbai was as per extant instructions,” he added.
According to official sources, MEA has now received an extradition request for Mehul Choksi from Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and is in the process of conveying it to authorities in Antigua and Barbuda.
The “due diligence” checks threw up two cases of the Securities and Exchange Board of Indi (SEBI) which had initiated investigations against a firm owned by Choksi in 2014 and 2017.
“We requested updates on the status of the investigations and received documentary confirmation, issued by the SEBI stating that in one case, the matter had been satisfactorily closed and indicating in the other that there is not sufficient evidence to pursue the matter further,” said the CIU press release.
The Antiguan authority observed that the 2016 non-bailable warrant was discontinued in October 2016.
Further, it noted that neither of the two SEBI cases were the subject of the current warrants issued by Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) in connection with the Punjab National Bank.
Incidentally, a Bengaluru-based investor had made an official complaint to the prime minister’s office in July 2016 that Mehul Choksi, then managing director of Gitanjali Gems, had reneged on business agreements and cheated him of Rs 13 crore. However, the complaint of the whistleblower was not taken forward.
The CIU claimed that Choksi’s application was subjected to several tests including open source Internet checks, Thompson Reuters World-Check, queries of various sanctions lists, engagement with regional and international intelligence agencies to include Interpol, as well as, contracted third party due diligence providers.
“In no instance was any derogatory information disclosed on the applicant,” it added.
The CIU unit noted that it was aware of media reports that Interpol had not contacted India’s CBI about any background information on Choksi. However, it avowed that Interpol was contacted during CIU’s checks on Choksi’s applications. “The CIU maintains, that this comment notwithstanding, that its background investigations do in fact include Interpol”.
Besides, the Antiguan government authority asserted had there been an active warrant against Choksi during the time of his citizenship application, it would have been made aware of this by Interpol and partners.
“Further, the warrant should have formed a part of the criminal records database in India and therefore declared in the police clearance certificate issued by Ministry of External Affairs,” asserted Antigua’s Citizenship by Investment unit.
It pointed out that Indian authorities had first given notice about current investigations in January 2018. “As such, these matters emerged well after the background vetting process which would have resulted in the August 2017 approval of Mr. Choksi’s application and his subsequent registration as a citizen in November 2017”.
Addressing the controversy, the press release concludes, “The CIU assures the public that it took all reasonable steps to ensure that Mr. Choksi was a fit and proper candidate for the grant of citizenship as allowed under the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship By Investment Act”.
Mehul Choksi escaped India in the first week of January and took the oath of allegiance in Antigua on January 15.
The scam blew up when Punjab National Bank disclosed in regulatory filings in February 2018 that it had detected fraudulent transactions worth $1.17 billion at one of its branches.
CBI accused diamantaire Nirav Modi, his brother Nishal, wife Ami and uncle Mehul Choksi of entering into a criminal conspiracy with officials.
So far, Interpol has issued Red Corner Notices against Nirav Modi and his brother, a Belgian citizen. CBI has said that Red Corner notices against Choksi has been submitted to Interpol.
On Monday, Indian high commissioner, Sevala Naik met with Antigua and Barbuda authorities over the matter. Immediately after getting reports about Choksi’s new address in the Caribbean nation, official sources said that Antiguan authorities had been “alerted, writing and verbally” to confirm Choksi’s presence in their territory and detain him to “prevent his movement by land, air and sea”
Training their guns at the government, the principal opposition party, Congress said on Friday that “shocking details” from Antigua reveals the “connivance and complicity” of the central government in ensuring the escape to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.