Early Life and Origin

Mehul Choksi was born in Mumbai on May 5, 1959. He pursued his education at G D Modi College in Palanpur, Gujarat. He has three children—one son and two daughters. One of his daughters is married to Akash Mehta, a diamond trader based in Antwerp. Choksi is also the maternal uncle of Nirav Modi. His younger brother, Chetan Chinubhai Choksi, owned an Antwerp-based diamond company named Diminco NV, which defaulted on a $25.8 million loan from an ICICI Bank subsidiary.

Choksi began his journey in the gem and jewellery industry in 1975. In 1985, he took over Gitanjali Gems from his father, Chinubhai Choksi. At the time, the company primarily dealt with rough and polished diamonds.

The 2018 Punjab National Bank loan fraud Case

In 2018, Punjab National Bank (PNB),India’s second-largest state-owned bank by assets revealed it had uncovered a massive fraud that sent shockwaves through the country’s financial sector. The alleged Rs 13,500 crore scam originated from a single Mumbai branch and implicated several high-profile figures, including billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, then managing director of Gitanjali Gems. Both of them had allegedly conspired with a few corrupt bank officials to exploit the bank’s systems and secure fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs), enabling them to divert large sums of money under the pretext of trade finance.

How this Scam was done by Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi

Letters of Undertaking (LoUs), which serve as bank guarantees to secure short-term credit from overseas branches of Indian banks for business purposes, were at the heart of this entire scam. These instruments are specifically meant for trade or business transactions and are not issued for regular retail banking activities and are supposed to be backed by margin money or collateral, and recorded in the bank’s system.

According to investigators, Nirav Modi began obtaining Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) from Punjab National Bank’s Brady House branch in Mumbai as early as March 2011. Mehul Choksi, through Gitanjali Gems and affiliated group companies, also played a key role in this fraud.

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According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Choksi and his firms, in collusion with dishonest bank officials, defrauded Punjab National Bank. He allegedly secured fraudulent Letters of Undertaking (LoUs) and had Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs) enhanced without adhering to standard banking protocols.

Over the following six years, both of them had secured 1,212 such guarantees—far exceeding the 53 legitimate LoUs issued to his firms during that period.

The fraud remained undetected for years, largely due to the involvement of bank insiders, including then Deputy General Manager Gokulnath Shetty, who allegedly circumvented the core banking system to issue the fraudulent guarantees.

Using these fake LoUs, they secured loans amounting to $1.77 billion (approximately ₹11,400 crore) from overseas branches of Indian banks, under the pretense of importing pearls. However, instead of being used for legitimate trade, the funds were allegedly misappropriated and laundered.

How this Scam was unearthed

The scam began to unfold in 2011 and continued until 2017. In July 2016, Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Hariprasad, who became one of the first whistleblowers in this case wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), expressing concerns about a potential large-scale scam. He highlighted that the balance sheets contained clear signs of irregularities. The scam was eventually fully exposed in January 2018 when officials at Punjab National Bank (PNB) insisted on full margin money before issuing new Letters of Undertaking (LoUs). When the companies involved claimed they had previously obtained LoUs without providing any collateral, PNB launched an internal investigation, which eventually led to the filing of an official complaint.

The FIR named companies such as Firestar Diamond, Solar Exports, Stellar Diamonds (linked to Nirav Modi), and Gitanjali Gems (associated with Mehul Choksi). The funds were allegedly used for the import and export of diamonds and jewellery. However, investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) revealed that many of these transactions were circular in nature, with no actual goods being imported.

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Choksi’s Escape from India and his life in abroad till now

Just before the scam became public, both Mehul Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi fled India.  Choksi had initially traveled to the United States, but later reappeared in Antigua and Barbuda, having secured citizenship there through a special investment program. His flight triggered a prolonged legal and diplomatic struggle as Indian authorities pursued his extradition.

In an unexpected turn of events in 2021, Choksi vanished from Antigua and was discovered in Dominica, allegedly attempting to escape to Cuba. He and his lawyer then claimed that he had been allegedly abducted, this development caused further muddied the extradition process to India.

In February 2025, a Mumbai court was informed that Mehul Choksi was in Belgium for medical treatment of suspected blood cancer. Two weeks ago, Mehul Choksi and his wife, Preeti, obtained F-Residency cards in Belgium. Preeti, a Belgian citizen, has family ties in the country, as does Choksi’s extended family. There were reports that surfaced which claimed that Choksi was planning to move to Geneva in Switzerland from Belgium. In the latest development he was arrested by Belgian authorities on Monday, 14th April 2025.