June 1, 2021
Chetan Choksi runs a company called Diminco NV, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Digico Holdings Limited, and claims to be one of the largest retailers of integrated diamond and jewellery. They said that Chetan was seen outside the court in London also during one of the court hearings of Nirav Modi in 2019.
Caribbean based media outlet Associates Times reported on Tuesday that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s elder brother Chetan Chinubhai Choksi, who landed in Dominica on May 29, met with the leader of opposition Lennox Linton for two hours at the latter’s home the next day and promised to pay for election donation in exchange of support from the opposition to press the matter in the parliament.
People familiar with the development said Chetan Choksi runs a company called Diminco NV, a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Digico Holdings Limited, and claims to be one of the largest retailers of integrated diamond and jewellery. They said that Chetan was seen outside the court in London also during one of the court hearings of Nirav Modi in 2019.
Meanwhile, Linton, in an interview with Hindustan Times, targeted the island country’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit over the alleged abduction of Mehul Choksi. He also accused Skerrit of being part of a plot that undermines the rule of law protection guaranteed to citizens of the region under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC).
Linton, leader of Dominica’s United Workers’ Party (UWP), demanded a full investigation into the conduct of police, the concerned minister who gave directions for the transfer of Choksi and the overall probe in respect of “obvious collaboration of the governments of Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda and India” in undermining the judiciary.
“There has to be an investigation as to ‘who knew’, ‘who did what’, ‘why they did it’ and ‘how did we find ourselves in this situation where we appear to be facilitating this very unfortunate set of circumstances,” Linton told HT on Tuesday.
“The PM must answer this why Dominican authorities seem to be so involved in this very irregular, very questionable transfer of Indian born jeweller from his residence in Antigua, that too without his passport,” Linton added.
Skerrit is the second leader in the region to be targeted by the opposition over the tussle over Mehul Choksi. Antigua PM Gaston Browne has been severely criticised by the country’s opposition who allege his government played a role in Choksi’s disappearance from the country. He has, on several occasions, suggested that Dominica shouldn’t send Choksi back to Antigua but deport him to India.
The developments in the Caribbean island nation come more than a week after Choksi went missing from Antigua, where he holds citizenship, on May 23 and then surfaced in Dominica.
Speaking with HT over the phone, Linton said, “Choksi’s presence in Dominica following allegations that he was kidnapped in Antigua, beaten, ferried to Dominica, and taken into the country against his will highlights once again the extent to which departments of government are involved in the organized crime under the influence and/or direction of the regime of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit”.
He said Dominica’s opposition has no issues whatsoever with the government of India. “We understand that Choksi is wanted in India and Indian authorities have full right to prosecute in these matters,” he said.
“But the way the government of Dominica has gone about it is anything but rule of law. This ‘no law, no constitution’ governance conduct that disgraces Dominica as a rogue element in the family of nations and endangers the rule of law foundation for the advancement of civility in the global community,” Linton added.
He also referred to Antiguan PM Gaston Browne’s statement that Antigua will not accept Choksi as he enjoys constitutional and legal protection there.
Browne, speaking with local media in Antigua, denied his government’s involvement in Choksi’s abduction. “Let me state here that even though Choksi’s citizenship was unsettled, we respected his legal and constitutional rights as a citizen, and we did nothing to abridge those rights whilst he was on Antiguan and Barbudan soil,” Browne said.
He further added that if Antigua was “desperate” to get rid of Choksi, “the better option would have been to have the Indians come here, bring a plane and pack him on the plane and send him back to India.”
HT could not reach Skerrit’s office for comments.
Meanwhile, officials in New Delhi said on Tuesday the team that flew to Dominica last Friday to seek deportation of Choksi includes two officers from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), including deputy inspector general Sharda Raut. Reports also suggested that two Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers also travelled with documents in the Bombardier 5000 jet of Qatar Executive but the agency denied it.