ANTIGUA SEEKS TO REPAIR ITS IMAGE AFTER CHOKSI SCANDAL, BUT FAILS

Mehul "Larger than Life" Choksi

 
The Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has now publicly stated that Mehul Choksi, the billionaire diamond fraudster, who has used his Antigua CBI passport and citizenship to delay his extradition to his native India for one year, will have his Antiguan citizenship revoked after the extradition process is completed. Unfortunately, what PM Browne has failed to mention is the well-known fact that Choksi's extradition, to face justice, may never occur.

We call it Antigua's "Leroy King Rule, " named for the former banking regulator, who was Allen Stanford's Blood Brother [we mean that literally] who has now evaded extradition to the United States for more than a decade. Choksi, like King, may never run out of bogus "appeals," judicial reassignments, court delays, motions for rehearing, and similar dilatory actions, all of which delay any case indefinitely, as can only occur in Antigua's corrupt court system.

If Choksi is never extradited,  Browne never has to revoke his CBI passport and citizenship, although his standing offer to do so improves his status with Opposition leaders, and undecided voters, and wins the PM political points. Of course, Choksi may indeed grow old in Antigua, but that little detail has been conveniently left out. As an offer, Browne's efforts have been rebuffed from all quarters; the PR effort has failed.

Observers of the Antigua political scene have said that Browne's unusual offer, which runs against Antigua's longtime support of its CBI citizens, may have come due to what medical professionals fear is a decline in the Prime Minister's mental acuity, which is not age-related, but is reportedly occurring due to his family mental health history. It is time for a change in leadership. 
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Note: Readers who are not familiar with the Choksi or King cases will find that there has been ample prior coverage of both matters on this blog.