As the news of Mehul Choksi's arrest came in, hopes for his extradition also rose, specially among the victims of 2018 Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam. Belgium confirmed that authorities in the country have arrested Choksi who fled the country a few days before the PNB scam was unfolded and eventually took up Antigua Citizenship. Choksi was located in Belgium last year when he went there on the grounds of getting medical treatment.

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As India has already requested his extradition, here's a look back at how Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi led India's biggest banking scam - Rs 13,850 crore ($138.5 billion) PNB Scam:

Mehul Choksi: How a diamond tycoon became a wanted fugitive. The rise and ruin of the business magnate | WION Explains

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Read More | Exclusive: Belgium confirms Mehul Choksi's arrest, Indian extradition request

How the PNB scam unfolded?

In January 2018, the Punjab National Bank announced that it had detected a massive fraud of worth 13,850 crore ($138.5 billion) in one of its branches in Mumbai. The scam named celebrity jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the managing director of Gitanjali Gems as prime accused.

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Choksi and Nirav Modi siphoned off the money from PNB's Brady House branch. They bypassed the legal processes via inflated Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) and obtained fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) from the bank. An LoU is a guarantee issued by Indian banks to help companies obtain short-term credit from overseas branches of Indian lenders. The transaction reportedly was not recorded as the duo allegedly bribed bank officials, including former Deputy General Manager Gokulnath Shetty. They exploited the SWIFT system (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) to route funds abroad without triggering alarms in the bank's core systems. Funds obtained through LoUs were funnelled into shell companies overseas, and the internal red flags were suppressed to hide the mounting debt.

Nirav Modi was arrested by uniformed Scotland Yard officers on an extradition warrant from a Metro Bank branch in central London on March 19, 2019 and has since been lodged in Wandsworth Prison. In February 2021, the Westminster Magistrates’ Court ruled that there was a prima facie case against him and allowed his extradition to India. Modi has appealed against the extradition and repeatedly been denied bail, most recently for the seventh time in May 2024. The UK judge said that there is substantial grounds for believing that Modi would abscond if granted bail.

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The CBI registered multiple cases against Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, their family members, employees, and PNB officials. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also filed money laundering cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Furthermore, the CBI has recently filed a supplementary chargesheet naming Modi's sister, Purvi Mehta, as an accused in the case. 

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi have been declared "fugitive economic offenders" under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018, which allows Indian authorities to confiscate their assets. 

Read More | Fugitive Mehul Choksi arrested in Belgium. How long can his extradition take?