Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda stated on Tuesday that he was unaware of any evidence that fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi had been kidnapped and transferred to Dominica.
MPs peppered PM Browne with questions on Mehul Choksi in parliament. “I’m not aware of evidence, but there’s information in the public domain that Mehul Choksi was abducted,” Browne said in response to a question about whether he or the minister of national security was aware or if any other investigative body had found any evidence that Mehul Choksi was taken to Dominica by involuntary means.
When asked if Scotland Yard or any other agency had notified his government about Choksi’s alleged kidnapping, Browne again said no.
He further stated that when Mehul Choksi was reported missing, the royal Antigua and Barbuda police force issued the yellow alert to Interpol in the first instance in order to locate him.
“It’s generally known that we have somewhat porous borders throughout the Caribbean region because of all of the numerous keys and beaches, and plainly we don’t have adequate resources, including manpower.” He said.
“It is an area that we continue to struggle with, we have been assisted by the US government and other external agencies to help us to build capacity in that area. But admittedly, it is one of the weak areas in which the countries in the Caribbean, you know, they all have porous borders,” he added.
Mehul Choksi, who is wanted in India for a Rs 13,500 crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, inexplicably vanished on May 23 from Antigua and Barbuda, where he had been a citizen since 2018.
His lawyers claimed that on May 23, he was kidnapped from Jolly Harbour in Antigua by police officers dressed in Antiguan and Indian garb and taken to Dominica on a boat.
