Who is Shubham Shokeen? Ex-French Embassy Officer Who Faces First-ever Interpol Silver Notice on India’s Request in Visa Fraud Case

New Delhi: Shubham Shokeen, a former official at the French Embassy in Delhi, is at the center of a major international visa fraud investigation. He is accused of issuing Schengen visas illegally and accepting large bribes from applicants.

Between January and May 2022, Shokeen and his colleague Aarti Mandal allegedly issued visas using fake documents and without proper approval. Each visa reportedly cost applicants around ₹50,000. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found that 64 visa files had gone missing from the French Embassy during this time.

Before the case could be formally filed, Shokeen fled India. The CBI first requested a Blue Notice from Interpol to trace his whereabouts. Now, in a major step, Interpol has issued its first-ever Silver Notice on India’s request to help locate and monitor his international assets.

What Is a Silver Notice?

The Silver Notice is a new type of notice introduced by Interpol in January this year. It helps track illegal assets across countries. It is part of a pilot program that includes India and 50 other nations, and it will run until November. Each country can request up to nine Silver Notices during this period. The first notice was issued at Italy’s request, and now India has used the Silver Notice to track Shokeen's assets abroad.

According to the CBI, Shokeen was involved in the fraud between September 2019 and May 2022, collecting huge amounts—between ₹15 lakh to ₹45 lakh per person—to illegally issue visas. He allegedly used this money to buy six properties in Dubai, worth over 7.7 million dirhams (approximately ₹15.7 crore).

Another Silver Notice has been issued against Amit Madanlal Lakhanpal, wanted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Lakhanpal is accused of launching an unapproved cryptocurrency called MTC and collecting about ₹113 crore from investors without any license. He allegedly tricked people by pretending to be a representative of the Ministry of Finance, and never returned the money.

Interpol currently uses nine different color-coded notices to help countries share information. These include:

Red for arresting fugitives,

Blue for locating people,

Black for unidentified bodies,

Yellow for missing persons,

and now Silver, for tracking illegal assets globally.

India’s agencies like the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, and Narcotics Control Bureau are actively using Silver Notices to target economic and financial crimes that cross borders.

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