In May 2021, indian fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi made headlines with a sensational claim: he had been abducted from the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda and forcibly taken to Dominica. At the center of this dramatic tale was a mysterious woman and an alleged international conspiracy.
Choksi, a key accused in the multi-billion dollar punjab National bank scam, had been living in Antigua since 2018 after gaining citizenship there. He was reportedly getting accustomed to a quieter life when a woman named Barbara Jarabica entered the picture. Described as a Hungarian or possibly Bulgarian national, Barbara had spent weeks building a rapport with Choksi, often joining him on morning walks near his residence in Antigua.
According to Choksi, the woman eventually invited him to her apartment near Jolly Harbour. When he arrived on May 23, he was ambushed. Choksi alleged that a group of men, possibly 8 to 10 individuals, barged into the apartment, assaulted him, and used force—including tasers—before dragging him onto a boat.
The boat, he said, took him across waters to dominica, where he was later arrested for illegal entry. In his statement, Choksi claimed his captors identified themselves as indian intelligence agents, suggesting the entire episode was a covert operation aimed at repatriating him to India.
His family backed his version, especially his wife, who raised suspicions about Barbara’s identity, noting how the woman vanished following the incident. They argued that Choksi was the victim of a “honeytrap” and an unlawful operation to sidestep legal extradition proceedings.
Authorities in Antigua, however, presented a different narrative. They questioned the abduction claims, with local officials implying that Choksi might have left the country of his own accord. Antigua’s prime minister even suggested that the fugitive could have been attempting to flee judicial scrutiny, with Barbara possibly being an accomplice—or an unwitting participant.
Meanwhile, dominica became the unexpected setting for an international legal tug-of-war. As indian authorities pushed for Choksi’s deportation, legal proceedings stalled over the legitimacy of his arrival in dominica and his citizenship status.
The case remains unresolved in many ways. What began as a banking scandal ballooned into an international mystery involving a supposed honeytrap, a high-seas kidnapping, and a battle over extradition that played out across three nations.
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