Ahead of Mehul Choksi's court hearing in Dominica, the country's Leader of Opposition Lennox Linton on Wednesday said that he is waiting to see how the court will treat the Indian-born fugitive diamantaire's "illegal entry" into Dominica.
"I don't know how the court will deal with the charge of illegal entry into Dominica, but significantly we are waiting to see how the court will treat this matter. Where will Mehul Choksi go after Dominica? India hopes it will be sent back to India. Mehul Choksi, his lawyer, and his family are hoping to convince the court to send him back to Antigua," Linton toldbefore the court hearing.
"Of course Indian hope he will be sent back to India and Mehul Chokshi and his family and his lawyer hoping that they can convince the court to sent Antigua, its hands in the court let see what happened," he added.
Earlier today, Associates Times had reported citing sources that Mehul Choksi's brother, who is also a bank defaulter, has allegedly promised election funding Linton in exchange for pushing Mehul's abduction theory.
The sources said Chetan Chinubhai Choksi had met Linton on May 30, where they discussed several aspects related to Mehul Choksi's arrest and agreed on the commitment that in exchange for token money and promise of election donation, the opposition leader will press the matter in Parliament.
They also confirmed to Associates Times that Chetan disclosed during the conversation that Mehul had reached Dominica on his own, but they require the assistance of the opposition to tackle the matter in court and against the Dominica government to make them believe that he was abducted by Antiguan and Indian police.
Sources said Chetan gave Linton token money of USD 200,000 and promised him more than a million-dollar of financial assistance in the upcoming general elections, in exchange Linton would issue statements favouring Mehul.
Associates Times reported that Linton, who had remained mum on the matter, has now aggressively initiated his attacks on the government after the meeting with Mehul Choksi's brother.
It also reported that the Dominican Leader of Opposition has a long history of taking money from people for delivering unauthorized promises. Al Jazeera reported that in 2019, Linton had promised a diplomatic passport to some investor in exchange for election funds amounting to about USD 200,000.
However, in an exclusive interview with ANI, Linton denied the allegations, claiming that he has never known or met Chetan Choksi.
"I don't know Chetan Choksi, I have never seen Chetan Choksi. I've never spoken to or with Chetan Choksi, I think there is an online story coming from a publication called Something times, I've never seen this website. I think this publication must be associated with passport selling friends of some of these governments in the region," he told ANI.
He also said the report was a 'total lie' and there was absolutely no truth to it, adding that he had no private residence in Marigot, as it was blown away by a hurricane and that he was not even present in Marigot on May 30, as suggested by Associates Times.
"I have not received any money from anybody in exchange for favours or as a result of things that have done or not done or promised to do or not do," he said.
Calling the report an 'absolute garbage', Linton said the political opposition in Dominica had no contacts with Mehul Choksi, his agents or his associates.
"We have not met with Mehul Choksi and his associate and not even his family members. We don't know them. There is absolutely no arrangement for them to for any funding for the campaigning or anything there is no such arrangement. This is absolutely false..," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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