New Delhi, June 22:Countering the claim made by PNB fraud case accused Mehul Choksi that he was unable to return to India due to persistent health problems, the Enforcement Directorate in a counter-affidavit submitted before the Mumbai High Court has offered to provide an air ambulance and a team of medical experts to bring him back from Antigua and provide him with all necessary treatment in India.
Terming Choksi’s claim as “a facade”, the ED officials said the agency had claimed that it had been done merely to mislead the court in an obvious attempt to delay the proceedings in the court.“We are ready to provide an expert medical team along with an AIR ambulance to bring him from Antigua to India under medical supervision,” a senior official said quoting the affidavit.
Noting that Choksi had never cooperated in the investigation into the Rs 13,000 crore PNB bank fraud scam case, sources said the probe agency also informed the court that the fugitive’s claim on his assets worth Rs 6,129 crore being seized is wrong, as the agency during the probe had attached assets worth Rs 2,100 crore only.
It had also been said that the fugitive diamantaire was trying to sell all his assets before fleeing from India, they added.“He (Mehul Choksi) never cooperated in the investigation. A non-bailable warrant was issued against him. A Red Corner Notice was issued by the Interpol. He has refused to return; he is, therefore, a fugitive and an absconder,” the ED is learnt to have said.
The development in the case came as on June 17 Choksi had submitted an affidavit in the Mumbai High Court, stating that he is residing in Antigua and was willing to cooperate in the investigation into Rs 13,000 crore PNB scam.
Showing his willingness to cooperate with the investigating agencies–Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)–he sought a direction to them to conduct the investigation in Antigua.
Choksi said he would travel to India as soon as he was medically fit to travel. He said, “I am ready to undergo any medical examination by an authority to prove the veracity of the claims made.”
