Mehul Choksi's wife rejects claims by 'girlfriend'

The wife of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi has dismissed charges against her husband by a woman who was said to be his girlfriend. Priti Choksi told news agency ANI that allegations by Barbara Jabarica were false.

New Delhi:The wife of fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi has dismissed charges against her husband by a woman who was said to be his girlfriend. Priti Choksi told news agency ANI that allegations by Barbara Jabarica were false.

Ms Choksi said that the woman's claim that her husband introduced himself as Raj was a lie. She said it is easy to know a person's identity by looking up social media accounts and dismissed her WhatsApp messages as fake. Choksi, an Indian businessman on the run, was arrested in the Caribbean island of Dominica last month and Jabarica was with him at the time.

Read:Choksi's Cuba plan revealed by his alleged girlfriend Barbara Jabarica

Choksi said the woman was one of his 'abductors' who 'seized' him on the island of Antigua before he was taken to Dominica. Dominican authorities charged him with illegal entry and declared him a prohibited immigrant, according to reports. Choksi, an Indian national was awarded Antiguan citizenship in November 2017 and he may have fled the island to reach Cuba to avoid extradition to India, reports said.

Why is Choksi wanted in India

Sixty-two-year-old Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi who ran a global diamond trade are wanted by authorities in India on charges of cheating a state-owned bank in a case involving ₹13,500 crore. They are accused of collaborating with two employees of the Punjab National Bank, the country's second largest lender, in the massive fraud.

Read:Man named in Choksi's 'abduction' denies any link to case

In January 2018, Choksi left India for Antigua a few days before the fraud was made public. Late last month Indian officials landed in Dominica to secure him but failed after a court ordered a freeze on plans to repatriate him to India. Reports say opposition parties in Dominica could be helping Choksi fight deportation to India in return for campaign funds.

Read:Dominica says fugitive Choksi's rights will be respected