After evading Indian authorities for more than 25 years, Monika Kapoor—an accused in a high-value import-export fraud case—has been extradited from the United States by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the agency confirmed on Wednesday.
Kapoor, the proprietor of Monika Overseas, was taken into custody by a CBI team from US officials on Tuesday. She is expected to arrive in India aboard an American Airlines flight by Wednesday night.
“This extradition marks a significant milestone in the CBI’s efforts to ensure that fugitives face the law in India, regardless of geographical boundaries,” a CBI spokesperson said. “Monika Kapoor will be produced before the competent court and will now stand trial.”
Kapoor, along with her brothers Rajan Khanna and Rajiv Khanna, allegedly submitted forged documents—such as shipping bills, invoices, and bank certificates—to fraudulently obtain duty-free import licenses for raw materials under the guise of jewelry trade. These licenses were later sold to Deep Exports, an Ahmedabad-based firm, which used them to import duty-free gold, resulting in a ₹1.44 crore (approximately $679,000) loss to the Indian exchequer.
The CBI began investigating the case in 2002 and filed a charge sheet on March 31, 2004, citing criminal conspiracy, cheating, and forgery. While her brothers were convicted in 2017, Kapoor absconded in 1999 and was declared a proclaimed offender in February 2006 for failing to appear during the investigation and trial.
India formally requested Kapoor’s extradition in October 2010. In 2012, the request was approved by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under the bilateral extradition treaty. Kapoor, however, resisted extradition, arguing that returning to India would violate her rights under the UN Convention Against Torture, as implemented by the Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998 (FARRA).
Her appeal to the US Secretary of State was rejected, and a surrender warrant was eventually signed. After years of litigation and multiple appeals in US courts, including administrative challenges, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit finally upheld her extradition in March 2025.
This case marks yet another successful extradition for Indian agencies. On July 4, Nehal Modi, brother of fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, was also arrested in the US following joint efforts by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The CBI has secured the return of over 120 fugitives through extradition or deportation in the last 3–4 years, with the help of Interpol and international cooperation.
