India Restitutes Assets Worth Rs ₹17,752 Crore From Fugitives Mehul Choksi, Vijay Mallya and Nirav Modi

The Government of India has initiated the liquidation of assets worth Rs 30,000 crore seized in the Mehul Choksi case, marking a significant step toward restitution for victims of one of the country’s biggest banking frauds.

He has cited inhumane prison conditions, ongoing cancer treatment, claustrophobia, PTSD, and permanent deformities as reasons for not facing trial in person. He has instead offered to cooperate with Indian agencies via video conferencing. But Indian authorities are moving ahead regardless. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has already restituted over Rs 17,000 crore worth of assets in six major financial fraud cases. These include:

Mehul Choksi: ₹2,569 crore

Nirav Modi: ₹1,052 crore

Vijay Mallya : ₹14,131 crore

Mehul Choksi, the fugitive diamantaire accused in the Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam, continues to evade extradition to India. Recently arrested in Belgium on a CBI request, Choksi has claimed through his lawyer that returning to India would violate his human rights. 

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According to officials, the assets being liquidated will go toward compensating defrauded banks and investors, signaling a major shift toward accountability in white-collar crime.
The Ministry of Finance has emphasized that the restitution process is aimed at restoring public trust and ensuring that fugitives cannot enjoy the proceeds of fraud while avoiding justice.
As legal proceedings continue overseas, India’s stance is firm: those who flee won’t be spared—and their money won’t stay hidden.

While Mehul Choksi battles extradition abroad, the wheels of justice at home are finally turning. Mehul Choksi, former chairman of the Gitanjali Group, has been arrested in Belgium by local authorities following a request from India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). According to reports from ANI, Choksi was taken into custody on Saturday after his presence in the country was confirmed. His arrest is a significant milestone in India’s long-standing pursuit to bring him back to face charges in the Punjab National Bank (PNB) scam.

Who Is Mehul Choksi?

Born in 1959, Mehul Choksi rose to prominence as the head of the Gitanjali Group, once a key player in India’s jewelry industry. His career, however, came crashing down after he was named a key accused in the ₹13,850 crore PNB fraud case, one of the biggest banking scams in Indian history. In January 2018, just before the scam became public, Choksi fled India—first to the United States, and later to Antigua and Barbuda, where he had acquired citizenship in 2017.

The PNB Scam

Between 2011 and 2018, Mehul Choksi, along with his nephew Nirav Modi, allegedly orchestrated a massive fraud using Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and Foreign Letters of Credit issued fraudulently by PNB’s Brady House branch in Mumbai. These LoUs acted as guarantees to overseas banks, allowing Choksi and Modi’s companies to secure credit without proper documentation or collateral. Several PNB officials were complicit, helping bypass core banking systems, which kept the loans hidden from scrutiny.