Choksi opts for Antigua & Barbuda citizenship

Posing fresh complications for India, absconder diamantaire Mehul Choksi, one of the prime accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud, has surrendered his Indian citizenship in favour of Antigua & Barbuda Isles in the West Indies, official sources said here on Monday. Choksi acquired his new citizenship last year and then subsequently deposited his cancelled Indian Passport No. Z3396732 and a mandatory fee of $177 for the other formalities.

Contacted by IANS in Mumbai, Choksi's lawyers declined to comment saying they were no longer in touch with him. Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, are charged with conniving with certain bank officials to dupe the PNB of around Rs 13,500 crore plus by issuing fake Letters of Undertakings (LoUs) to their group companies through the PNB's flagship Brady House branch.