The probe into the sudden disappearance of Mehul Choksi from Antigua and Barbuda completes a two-year mark. The investigations that started in May 2021 are yet to discover any evidence to prove the abduction allegations made by the diamond merchant.
The authorities in Antigua and Barbuda are continuously scrutinizing the matter in an attempt to unveil the truth behind Choksi’s claims of being kidnapped, however, they have not succeeded to recover any solid evidence, putting all the resources and time into vain.
Mehul Choksi defrauded a Punjab National Bank (second largest lender in India) of a whopping USD 2 billion and tried to avoid criminal proceedings in his home country. As part of his efforts to abscond, he managed to flee India and took Antigua and Barbuda citizenship in 2018.
In May 2021, he suddenly disappeared from Jolly Harbour and further claimed that he was kidnapped and taken from one Caribbean Island to another. However, the authorities have not discovered any evidence in terms of CCTV footage, eyewitness accounts or any other documentation to substantiate the diamond merchant’s claims. He hired an expensive legal team who failed to prove his allegations in front of law enforcement agencies due to the paucity of convincing evidence or reasons.
The attempts of the fancy legal team of Choksi in proving his narrative true have put forth discussion among the public that this is nothing but attempts to delay his extradition. As a testament to the legal manoeuvring in the case, Mehul Choksi secured the withdrawal of a red corner notice issued against himself by claiming that he became a victim of human rights violations. While positioning himself as the victim of the human rights violations, diamantaire succussed in getting free from red corner notice, however, Choksi’s narrative of abduction has been unveiled in the public as forged.
All these aspects have evidently shown that there is a massive lack of concrete proof even after two years of investigations and make people think that whether the alleged abduction took place or not. It also makes the top government officials, such as the Commissioner of Police as well as Attorney General to raise an appeal for ending the probe into the mater. While putting concrete reasons behind their appeal, these officials stated that the investigation has not yielded significant results and become the matter of unnecessary expenditure if taxpayer’s money. They added that probe would only waste the valuable resources of the country.
Manipulating of media by expensive lawyers
In order to malign the evidence in his case, the expensive team of lawyers of Mehul Choksi bribed numerous famous and well-established news channels and specific journalists. They have funded the media houses of the country to push the false narrative of his kidnapping among the people so that they could gain efficient public support. The attempts of manipulating media have not get restricted to Antigua and Barbuda but also spread in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States by his lawyers.
However, the reaction of the people in Antigua and Barbuda has not worked in the favour of Mehul Choksi as they expressed their anguish in putting sympathetic narrative about the fugitive businessman. They are raising questions on the credibility of the media and showing their frustrations on the fact that they are running a positive image building campaign for Mehul Choksi. The public believe that the merchant has been using USD 2 billion he received by defrauding Punjab National Bank on his image building campaigning and to rescue himself from his various criminal proceedings.
They are also showing their concern over his disappearance case and stated that his fancy lawyers have been making every effort to portrayed his case different from the reality which can influence the justice.
Mehul Choksi’s case has witnessed new development with the arrest of the Barbara Jarabik in Dubai who is one of the key figures accused of his abduction. Due to her name in the case, Interpol had issued the Red Corner Notice against her resulting in her arrest. However, the situation faced significant twist as the court in the United Arab Emirates has dimssied the case against her due to a lack of convincing evidence which can support the kidnapping allegations. Along with that, INTERPOL has also withdrawn the red corner notice against her name, further intensifying the doubts surrounding his kidnapping narrative.
Moreover, a Dubai-based lawyer has also asked to suspend the Mehul Choksi’s case due to lack of efficient evidence. While undermining the efforts of fugitive’s team, the outcome also reinforced concerns about the credibility of the Choksi’s abduction story.
Police Reports
Several police reports have showcased that there is no clear proof connecting the certain tourists who were blamed by Mehul Choksi for his abduction with the case. These reports have merely outlined the itinerary of these tourists and stated that just being present in a certain area or engaging in some activities does not make anyone to involve in such incident occurring at a particular location. Without the discovering of the convincing evidences against the tourists, it was stated that these allegations seen to be based on speculations than solid proof.
The disappearance of Mehul Choksi encircling two theories in which one of them stated that the narrative was just to collect ransom, however, the theory can’t be proved due to the lack of the evidences as there was no communication or calls seeking ransom. Second stated that if the kidnapping was conducted by the government of India, then there is no reason to explain that why was the plane sent to take him back landed six days after his disappearance? So the timeline is inconsistent.
Besides this, various investigations have been laid out by the agencies in which Tarique Ghaffer,CBE QPM, a former Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Service was also included. In 2021, in his extensive finding, Ghaffure stated that the tourists accused of his kidnapping including Barbara Jarabik, Gurmit Singh and Gurjit Bhandal were not involved into the case as they were simple at the wrong place at the wrong time.
In his investigative report, it was concluded that there is no evidence of their involvement in the abduction case of Choksi.
Investigation by Kenneth Rijock
Kenneth Rijock- a well-known investigator and financial crime consultant also conducted thorough investigation into the matter. After using his intelligence in the investigating cases, he released a comprehensive report examining all aspects of the case, including Mehul Choksi’s contradictory statements, involvement of accomplices, and abduction narrative based on evidence gathered thus far.
Download the full report of Kenneth Rijock
The report was divided into six chapters which included:
- Mehul Choksi’s version
- The Tourists in questions
- The Jamaican Transporters
- Police Investigation Report
- Statements by Prime Minister and the later statements by police
Further, he also outlined the findings of the case which are as follows:
- There was the significant change in the statements given by Mehul Choksi about his 23rd May 2021 evening plane
- There was the change in the statement of Mehul Choksi about the identity of his kidnappers
- The investigation has not discovered the signs of forced entry into the house where Mehul Choksi was allegedly abducted
- The allegations of the Mehul Choksi was not documented with the statement of the tourists Gurjit Bhandal and Gurmit Singh and Captain of their boat.
- Why would Barbara Jarabik plan kidnapping at her own residence, and the busiest time of the day at 0500PM.
- Change in the plan from May 24May, 2021 to May 23May 2021 by Mehul Choksi after Barbara Jarabik changed her plan to depart Antigua from May 24 May, 2021, to May 23 May, 2021.
- Police authority intentionally ignored some vital evidence and witnesses.
The report findings show that Mehul Choksi had known that India will tighten restrictions on him and make him pay for the scam. Following that, the findings show that to escape the Indian authorities, he decided to go to a country that had no extradition treaty with India. The plan was to abscond, without telling anyone and make it appear like a missing case. So, he honey-trapped Barbara Jarabik by gifting jewellery and other attempts to gather her complete information to put missing blame on someone, which is why his family or friend had parked his vehicle near villa 407 E&F in North Finger after 1 day of him reported missing.
Download the full report here:
The investigation also revealed that while Mehul Choksi and his transporters were en route to Cuba, he received a satellite call informing him that Cuba is no longer a secure location and that he should reconsider his decision due to potential threats. After the change in plans, Mehul Choksi requested his carriers to relocate the boat to Dominica, believing that the entire plot of “disappearing” being modified to “kidnapping” would aid his extradition case on the grounds of human rights, so preventing his extradition to India. All the tourists involved/accused including Barbara Jarabik, Gurjit Bhandal and Gurmit Singh appears actual tourists who are victims of the MASTERPLAN of Choksi.
