ST JOHN’S, Antigua--The Citizenship by Investment Unit (CIU) in Antigua and Barbuda has released a statement in an effort to provide clarity and address misinformation that has been circulating in the public domain regarding diamond merchant Mehul Choksi, an economic citizen who is now sought by authorities in India in connection with a massive bank fraud there.
According to the CIU, Choksi’s application was received in May 2017, with the necessary documentary requirements, including a police clearance certificate as required by section 5 (2) (b) of the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Act 2013.
The police clearance certificate from the government of India, Ministry of External Affairs Regional Passport Office, Mumbai, certified that there was no adverse information against Mehul Chinubbhai Choksi that would “render him ineligible for grant of travel facilities including visa for Antigua and Barbuda.”
“As with all applications submitted to the CIU, Choksi’s application was subjected to stringent background checks which included open-source Internet checks, Thompson Reuters World-Check, queries of various sanctions lists, engagement with regional and international intelligence agencies to include Interpol as well as contracted third party due diligence providers. It was only after the results of all of these checks had been received and assessed that a final decision was taken on the application. In no instance was any derogatory information disclosed on the applicant,” the CIU said.
In the conduct of its due diligence, the CIU said it received documentation of two instances in which the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in 2014 and 2017, opened investigations on a corporate entity owned by Choksi.
“We requested updates on the status of the investigations and received documentary confirmation, issued by the SEBI, stating that, in one case, the matter had been satisfactorily closed, and indicating in the other that there is not sufficient evidence to pursue the matter further. None of these matters is the subject of the current warrants issued by Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) in connection with the Punjab National Bank. It was also observed that the 2016 Non-bailable Warrant referenced in media articles was discontinued in October 2016,” the CIU said.
The CIU’s review of online reports on this matter noted that India’s CBI has indicated that Interpol had not made direct contact with them requesting information on Choksi. The CIU maintains that, this comment notwithstanding, the CIU’s background investigations do in fact include Interpol.
“Were there an active warrant for Mr. Choksi at the time his citizenship application was being processed, this information should have already been made available to Interpol, a notification of which would have been readily accessible by the CIU and its due diligence partners. Further, the warrant should have formed a part of the criminal records database in India and therefore declared in the police clearance certificate issued by the ministry of external affairs,” the CIU said.
The CIU’s investigations revealed that notice of the current investigation was first issued by Indian authorities to law enforcement on January 31. As such, these matters emerged well after the background vetting process that would have resulted in the August 2017 approval of Choksi’s application and his subsequent registration as a citizen in November 2017.
“The CIU assures the public that it took all reasonable steps to ensure that Mr. Choksi was a fit and proper candidate for the grant of citizenship as allowed under the Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship by Investment Act,” the statement concluded. ~ Caribbean News Now! ~
