New Delhi: Fugitive diamond trader Mehul Choksi claimed that he decided to reside in Antigua and Barbuda which is his country of “citizenship”. He “abides by laws of the country” even as the Prime Minister of the Caribbean country told the media that his administration will fully cooperate with the Indian government.

Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi have been accused by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) of defrauding the state-owned Punjab National Bank (PNB) to the tune of Rs 14,000 crore in issuance of Letters of Undertaking and Foreign Letters of Credit. Both Choksi and Modi left India in the first week of January and have not returned despite summons from the CBI and the ED.

On July 23, the CBI was informed by the ministry of external affairs (MEA) that Choksi travelled from the US to Antigua on an Antiguan passport.

The MEA got the information from its mission in the US which was pursuing the case of Choksi with the local administration, said officials familiar with the matter.

“The CBI approached its Antiguan counterparts on July 24 to trace Choksi in the Caribbean country,” said a CBI official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The CBI is yet to secure an Interpol Red Notice, basically a request to Interpol member countries to detain and deport an accused, against Choksi. A Red Notice would have made the CBI’s job much easier.

The agency had approached Interpol for Red Notice against Nirav and Choksi in the second week of June.