Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamond businessman wanted in connection with the Rs 12,636 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, was arrested in Belgium in early April 2025. His detention marks a major development in one of India’s largest banking fraud cases.
Choksi, former chairman and managing director of the Gitanjali Group, had fled India in 2018 and later acquired citizenship in Antigua and Barbuda, complicating India’s efforts to bring him back. Authorities in India are now coordinating with their Belgian counterparts to extradite him.
Alongside his nephew Nirav Modi, Choksi is accused of defrauding PNB by fraudulently obtaining letters of undertaking. At the peak of his business empire, Choksi claimed a personal net worth of over Rs 20,000 crore. Founded in 1986, his Gitanjali Gems company grew into a retail giant with over 4,000 stores, managing popular jewellery brands like Gili, Asmi, Sangini, and D’damas. He expanded internationally and signed a major retail deal in 2006 with US-based Samuel Jewellers, which had over 100 outlets.
However, after the scam surfaced in 2018, India’s ED and CBI launched a sweeping investigation. Authorities have since recovered assets worth over Rs 2,565 crore, including luxury properties in Mumbai, two industrial units in SEEPZ (Andheri), luxury jewellery, bank accounts, equity holdings, and a Mercedes car. Additional assets worth Rs 14.45 crore – such as high-end flats and jewellery – have also been seized.
In a key ruling, a special Mumbai court recently ordered that Rs 125 crore of the seized assets be returned to the victims of the fraud. The valuation of Choksi’s remaining assets is still pending legal review.
Once a dominant force in India’s jewellery industry, Gitanjali Group reported an annual turnover of Rs 12,500 crore in 2018. However, the company collapsed in the wake of the fraud revelations, with reports suggesting that rapid international expansion came at the cost of product quality.
Choksi’s arrest and ongoing extradition process have reignited public interest in the case. Many across the country are watching closely, eager for justice and closure in a scandal that severely impacted India’s banking sector.
