CBI takes custody of economic offender Monika Kapoor in the USA

In a major breakthrough, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken custody of Monika Kapoor, an alleged economic offender wanted in India for her role in a multi-crore financial fraud case. According to top officials, Kapoor was apprehended in the United States and is now in CBI custody following a coordinated effort with U.S. authorities. The development comes after months of legal wrangling over her extradition, which the US Supreme Court had temporarily blocked on May 19. Kapoor, who holds Indian citizenship, is accused of orchestrating large-scale financial irregularities and defrauding several institutions, prompting a red-corner notice and a protracted international legal pursuit. Monika Kapoor, who has been on the run for the past 26 years, is finally set to be brought back to India by a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York had cleared her extradition under the bilateral extradition treaty between India and the USA. The central agency has taken Kapoor's custody in the USA and boarded an American Airlines flight to India, which is likely to land on Wednesday night, they said.

The secretary of state had subsequently issued a surrender warrant after rejecting Kapoor's claims that she would likely be tortured if returned to India, and that her extradition would therefore violate the United Nations Convention Against Torture as implemented by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (FARRA). Kapoor went to the USA in 1999 after the alleged fraud where she along with her two brothers forged documents for jewellery business. These documents were allegedly used to obtain licenses from the Indian government to import raw materials duty free. The alleged fraud caused a loss of more than USD 679000 to Indian exchequer. India had approached the USA seeking Kapoor's extradition in October, 2010 pursuant to the Treaty on Extradition between the two countries, the officials said.