NEW DLEHI: Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has termed “total nonsense” the claims that his government was involved in alleged abduction of diamantaire Mehul Choksi, wanted in Rs 13,5000 crore scam in Punjab National Bank, from Antigua and Barbuda, neighbouring local media there reported.

Skerrit refuted the allegations of a plot between India and Dominica government to kidnap Choksi from neighbouring Caribbean country Antigua and Barbuda, where he was staying since 2018 as a citizen, after fleeing from India, and bring him to Dominica, the news portal reported.

“To say that the government of Dominica and the government of Antigua along with India colluded in any way, give me a break, that’s total nonsense. We don’t get involved ourselves in those kinds of activities, those practices, not at all. I mean that is absurd and we reject it and it is unfortunate that anybody would want to propagate this unsubstantiated claim by a gentleman who is before the courts,” he was quoted as saying by Dominica News Online.

He further said “whether it would be fair for a local who commits murder in Dominica and flees to another country, is allowed to roam free or instead be apprehended and sent back to Dominica to face his charges”.

Citing the case of a Dominica citizen wanted by the United States whose extradition proceedings are going on in courts to counter opposition on Choksi, Skerrit said the country cannot treat people differently depending on who they are or how much money they may have.

“All of us are subjected to the laws irrespective of our position or how much money we may have or how much we don’t have. And I believe that in this circumstance…Dominica has a right and obligation to apprehend this person and bring the person before the courts and let the courts determine,” he said.

“We here in Dominica with the opposition talking about Choksi but there is a young boy from Grand Bay…Where there is an extradition request by the United States government on allegations that he committed a crime in St Thomas and we are mandated and obligated to apprehend him.

“And the police acted on the instruction of the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) arrested the young man and he is remanded at the state prison awaiting his extradition hearing. His lawyers will fight his case. If the courts believe that there is no reason to extradite him to the United States then he will go freely,” Skerrit said.

Choksi’s lawyer in Dominica Justin Simon claimed that United Kingdom’s Metropolitan Police, known as Scotland Yard, has started looking into allegations of torture and kidnapping of Choksi as citizens there were allegedly part of the plot, the news site reported.

Simon told media that there will be international implications if Dominica or Antigua turns out to be involved in the alleged plot, it said.

JERUSALEM: Israeli fighter jets struck a weapons manufacturing site in Gaza overnight in response to incendiary balloons launched over the frontier into Israel, the military said early Friday.

It was the third time Israel has carried out airstrikes in Gaza since the end of the 11-day war it fought with the territory’s militant Hamas rulers in May. Each came after activists mobilized by Hamas launched incendiary balloons that caused fires in nearby Israeli farming communities.

Hamas uses such tactics to pressure Israel and international mediators to ease a crippling blockade imposed on Gaza when it seized power from rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel has vowed to respond to even minor attacks.

Egyptian and international mediators have been trying to shore up the informal cease-fire that ended the most recent war. In recent days, Israel has eased restrictions to allow in Qatar-funded fuel, extend Gaza’s fishing zone and permit increased cross-border commerce.

Israel says such steps are contingent on Hamas preserving calm along the frontier.

NEW YORK: New York prosecutors are expected to announce the first criminal indictment Thursday in a two-year investigation into Donald Trump’s business practices, accusing his namesake company and its longtime finance chief of tax crimes related to fringe benefits for employees.

The charges against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, remained sealed Wednesday night but were to be unveiled ahead of an afternoon arraignment at a state court in Manhattan, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The people were not authorized to speak about an ongoing investigation and did so on condition of anonymity.

There was no indication Trump himself would be charged at this stage of the investigation, jointly pursued by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats.

Trump did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions about the New York case as he visited Texas on Wednesday, but earlier in the week, the Republican had blasted the New York prosecutors as “rude, nasty, and totally biased” and said his company’s actions were “standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime.”

The planned charges were said to b e linked to benefits the company gave to top executives, like the use of apartments, cars and school tuition, the people familiar with the matter told the AP.

Messages seeking comment were left with a spokesperson and lawyers for the Trump Organization. Weisselberg’s lawyer, Mary Mulligan, declined to comment. The Manhattan district attorney’s office declined to comment.

Vance, who leaves office at the end of the year, has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation into a variety of matters involving Trump and the Trump Organization.

His office has looked into hush-money payments paid to women on Trump’s behalf and truthfulness in the company’s property valuations and tax assessments, among other matters.

Vance fought a long battle to get Trump’s tax records and has been subpoenaing documents and interviewing company executives and other Trump insiders.

James assigned two lawyers from her office to work with Vance’s team after her office found evidence of possible criminal wrongdoing while conducting a separate civil investigation of Trump.

Weisselberg, 73, had come under scrutiny, in part, because of questions about his son’s use of a Trump apartment at little or no cost.

Barry Weisselberg, who managed a Trump-operated ice rink in Central Park, testified in a 2018 divorce deposition that Trump Parc East apartment was a “corporate apartment, so we didn’t have rent.”

Barry’s ex-wife, Jen Weisselberg, has been cooperating with both inquiries and given investigators reams of tax records and other documents.

The case against Allen Weisselberg — a loyal lieutenant to Trump and his real estate-developer father, Fred — could give prosecutors the means to pressure the executive into cooperating and telling them what he knows about Trump’s business dealings.

The Trump Organization is the business entity through which the former president manages his many entrepreneurial affairs, including his investments in office towers, hotels and golf courses, his many marketing deals and his television pursuits. Trump sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, have been in charge of the company’s day-to-day operations since he became president.

Although Trump isn’t expected to be charged Thursday, allegations against the company bearing his name raise questions about his knowledge of — or involvement in — business that practices prosecutors suspect were illegal.

James Repetti, a tax lawyer and professor at Boston College Law School, said a company like the Trump Organization would generally have a responsibility to withhold taxes not just on salary, but other forms of compensation — like the use of an apartment or automobile.

Such perks wouldn’t be considered taxable income if they were required as a condition of employment, Repetti said, such as providing an apartment for the convenience of an employee who is required to be at the office or worksite at odd or frequent hours, or allowing the use of a car for business purposes.

Another prominent New York City real estate figure, the late Leona Helmsley, was convicted of tax fraud in a federal case that arose from her company paying to remodel her home without her reporting that as income.

The Trump Organization case involves possible violations of New York state tax laws.

“The IRS routinely looks for abuse of fringe benefits when auditing closely held businesses,” Repetti said. “The temptation for the business is that it claims a tax deduction for the expense, while the recipient does not report it in income.”

LAHORE: A Christian man in Pakistan was on Monday sentenced to 22 years imprisonment and fined Rs three lakh by a special court for raping and kidnapping a woman.

A special court in Lahore for gender-based violence awarded a collective imprisonment of 22 years to Samson Masih for raping and kidnapping a 25-year-old woman of his locality.

The police had registered a case against Masih last year on the complaint of the woman’s family that he abducted her outside her house and kept her at an unknown place for a month and subjected her to sexual assault.

The police traced the suspect through the location of his mobile phone and rescued the woman. The prosecution presented 10 witnesses in the case.

Judge Jamshed Mubarak handed down a 15-year imprisonment for rape and seven-year jail term for kidnapping. A fine of Rs 300,000 (USD 1,896) has also been imposed on the suspect. The sentence will run concurrently.

LONDON: The number of Delta variant cases of COVID-19 in the UK have risen by 35,204 since last week to a total of 111,157, representing a 46 per cent increase, health officials said in the weekly report released on Friday.

Public Health England (PHE) said of the total Delta variant of concern (VOC) – first identified in India – 42 belong to the Delta AY.

1 sub lineage, dubbed as Delta plus in some quarters over fears of its even greater transmissibility.

While the Delta variant now accounts for approximately 95 per cent of cases that are sequenced across the UK, PHE said the both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine continue to provide good protection against hospitalisations.

“Through the success of our vaccination programme, data suggest we have begun to break the link between cases and hospitalisations,” said Dr Jenny Harries, Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency.

“This is hugely encouraging news, but we cannot become complacent. Two doses of vaccine are far more effective against COVID-19 than a single dose, so please make sure that you come forward to get your second dose as soon as you are invited,” she said.

“Whilst vaccines provide excellent protection, they do not provide total protection, so it is still as important as ever that we continue to exercise caution,” she added.

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Meanwhile, PHE said it added another variant, Lambda (C.37) to its list of variants under investigation (VUI) on Wednesday due to international expansion and several notable mutations, including L452Q and F490S.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) classified Lambda as a “Variant of Interest” on June 14.

Six cases of Lambda have been identified across the country to date, all have been linked to overseas travel.

The earliest documented sample was reported in Peru and Lambda has been sequenced in 26 countries to date.

According to UK health officials, there is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines currently deployed any less effective.

But PHE said it is carrying out laboratory testing to better understand the impact of mutations on the behaviour of the virus.

The latest figures show that an additional 514 people were admitted to hospital in England with a diagnosis of COVID-19 in the week up to June 21 and of these 304 were unvaccinated, coinciding with the health service messaging in favour of vaccinations.

There have now been a total of 117 deaths in England of people confirmed as having the Delta variant – eight of which were people under the age of 50.

Six of these eight people were unvaccinated, while two died after more than 21 days of receiving a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.