After India asked for his extradition, Indian businessman Mehul Choksi was detained in Belgium.
After leaving India in 2018, Mr Choksi was arrested on Saturday; his lawyer Vijay Aggarwal informed the BBC on Monday.
India wants the diamond trader over claims of participation in a nearly $1.8 billion (£1.3 billion defrauding one of the nation’s biggest banks.
Although Mr. Choksi has not publicly addressed the matter, his lawyer claimed they would appeal against his incarceration and also object against his being sent to India.
“These are the two clear grounds [on which we shall defend the case]: he is not a flight danger and second, he is quite sick. Mr Agarwal added, “He is undergoing cancer treatment.”
He further said they would “contest the extradition on grounds that there isn’t enough evidence against him and the extradite request is politically motivated and the trial in India may not be fair”.
The BBC has sought comments from India’s foreign ministry and financial crimes bureau, the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Though it’s unclear why the action occurred now, a Times of India article claims Mr Choksi was arrested based on two non-bailable orders issued by an Indian court in 2018 and 2021.
Indian officials seek Mr Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi in relation to a $1.8 billion fraud case at Punjab National Bank (PNB).
Mr Modi, who has also been staying overseas since 2018, is awaiting extradition to India while housed in a London jail.
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Both traded diamonds in public really well. Many Hollywood stars, like Naomi Watts and Kate Winslet, wore Mr Modi’s jewels. Priyanka Chopra, one of the most well-known Bollywood stars, was brand ambassador for his company.
Mr. Choksi, on the other hand, owned Gitanjali Gems, an Indian jewelry business with nearly 4,000 outlets all throughout India.
The ED charges Mr. Choksi and Modi of working with several PNB Brady House branch workers in Mumbai city to get false advances for payments to offshore gem suppliers.
Then supposedly these monies were laundered and diverted.
Mr. Choksi and Mr. Modi have refuted the accusations directed against them.
Mr Choksi allegedly visited the US and subsequently Antigua, where he has citizenship, after leaving India.
He supposedly got detained in Dominica in 2021 and sent back to Antigua.
Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Hariprasad SV, who had reported authorities on the claimed PNB fraud in 2016, said Mr Choksi’s arrest was “great news”.
Apart from bringing him back, the most crucial thing is to get back all those billions of dollars he looted from India,” he said to ANI news agency.
