A diamond tycoon wanted in a $1.5 billion fraud case told a UK court he was kidnapped by Indian agents in 2021 and tortured to extract a confession that he colluded with political opponents to defraud local banks.

Mehul Choksi, the chairman of Gitanjali Gems Ltd., sued the Indian government and five individuals involved in the alleged abduction at a London court. The Indian government denies the allegations and argued that the case shouldn’t be heard in English courts.

The tycoon remains in Belgium, where he was arrested in April following extradition an request from India’s federal investigators. Choksi, 66, and his former diamond billionaire nephew Nirav Modi, 54 fled India in 2018.

— Bloomberg