the-billionaires-who-bled-and-fled-india

The arrest of Mehul Choksi by Belgian Police last week did not only put the spotlight on the fugitive diamantaire who played a key role in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB scam, it in fact spotlighted all the billionaire financial fugitives of India who remain many legal loopholes away from being extradited.

 

Choksi, though a few steps closer to being brought back into the ambit of India’s law enforcement agencies, is currently in the custody of Belgian state authorities. “As you are aware, based on our extradition request, Choksi was arrested in Belgium. We are closely working with the Belgian side for his extradition to India so that he can face trial in the country,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the media briefing shortly after his arrest.

 

The former chairman of Gitanjali Group, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, colluded with PNB officials to fraudulently obtain Letters of Understanding (LoUs) from Punjab National Bank without providing the bank with proper collateral and documentation.

 

Currently an Antiguan citizen, Choksi fled India in early 2018 before the scam hit the headlines. Reportedly, he also secured a Belgian residency permit in November 2023. Last week, he was arrested near his home in Antwerp. Choksi's nephew Nirav Modi was detained in March of 2019 and is currently lodged in Westminster prison in London and continues to contest his extradition to India.

 

Even though embroiled in lengthy extradition battles with Indian authorities, a discouraging number of fugitives still remain at large. Some are the poster faces of India’s economic offenders, many of whom fled with billions, obtained citizenship of tiny countries, parked themselves in picturesque tax havens and remain offshore while exploiting the systemic loopholes. 

 

Former liquor baron Vijay Mallya

 

The flamboyant liquor baron, known for his yacht parties and glittering guest list, fled India in 2016 and has been residing in the UK since then. His now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines is still at the centre of a high-stakes, deeply contested legal storm. Mallya, declared a fugitive offender by India, has been fighting a lengthy extradition battle with Indian enforcement agencies and claims that the banks have recovered all dues from him.

 

Mallya was accused of money laundering and owes Indian banks to the tune of Rs 9000 crore. In February of this year, he moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the debt recovery proceedings against him. Mallya claims that banks have recovered money multiple times over against the principal debt of Rs 6200 crore owed by Kingfisher Airlines Limited. The recovery officer is stated to have recovered Rs 10,200 crore whereas the Union Finance Minister stated in Parliament that Rs 14000 crore have been recovered. Last week a consortium of Indian banks, led by SBI, won their court appeal in London upholding a bankruptcy order against Mallya. 

 

IPL founder Lalit Modi

 

The architect of cash-rich, money-minting global entertainment spectacle Indian Premier League, Lalit Modi is ironically yet another poster face of India’s financial fugitives. During his tenure as the IPL chief, Modi faced serious allegations of financial misconduct, contracts executed without authority and money he pocketed individually estimated to be Rs 125 crore. Amidst the mounting public scrutiny and legal heat, Modi left India in 2010.

 

Currently believed to be living in London, last month Modi lost citizenship of the island nation Vanuatu. Reportedly, he had acquired the citizenship before applying to surrender his Indian passport at Indian High Commission in London. However, the Prime Minister of Vanuatu ordered the cancellation of his Vanuatu passport, accusing him of misusing the citizenship of the island nation to evade extradition in his home country.

 

Economic offenders hiding abroad

 

While a handful of them gained mainstream notoriety, the list of economic offenders fleeing the country is embarrassingly long. In December 2021, while responding to a question, the Centre informed the Parliament that as many as 33 persons accused in bank fraud cases registered by the CBI fled the country.

 

Apart from Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi, the list includes Nitin J Sandesara, Dipti Chetankumar Sandesara and Sanjay Bhandari. 

 

Notably, over the years, the UK has become the most preferred destination of tax offenders and financial fugitives. Despite the extradition requests being sent, the fugitives continue to make their way through legal loopholes and systemic delays.

 

Notably, for the financial year 2020-21, the average time lag between the date of fraud being committed and the date of fraud being detected was 23 months. Unfortunately, for frauds involving Rs 100 crore or more, this time lag was 57 months.

 

Yet another diamantaire Jatin Mehta, along with wife and two sons, faces allegations of misappropriating $1 billion secured by way of loans. The fugitive offender of India was believed to have acquired citizenship of St Kitts and Nevis, an island which is not just a tax haven but does not have an extradition treaty with India. In 2022, private investigators reportedly found the Mehtas living in luxury in London after Grant Thornton initiated legal proceedings against the family.

 

Sandesara brothers frauded India but are celebrated in Nigeria 

 

 The Sandesara brothers, the Gujarati businessmen left India in 2017 after reportedly defrauding public banks of Rs 17,000 crore from various public banks. Currently settled in Nigeria, the businessmen are Nigerian state partners in multi-billion dollar projects in crude oil production. The sibling duo along with their families have built the largest independent crude oil company in the African nation and are not just flourishing but influential among the country's political class.

 

Despite India pursuing them as criminals, Nigeria reportedly rejected India’s request to extradite them. However, last year the Supreme Court allowed the sibling duo to return to India after they paid the impending amount of Rs 830 crore and another Rs 830 crore as mandated. Surprisingly, their company Sterling Biotech still continues to operate in Mumbai. Time and again many reports have made controversial claims about the brothers, with some accusing them of selling the crude oil to India via the UK, others speculating if they are hand-in-glove with investigative agencies.

 

In order to address the loopholes, red tapism, lack of extradition treaties with certain nations, in 2023, while hosting the G20, India sought a consensus among G20 nations for faster extradition of economic offenders. Ironically, any action to that effect itself seems to be taking time.