Port Louis:

Police in Mauritius on Sunday arrested the island’s former prime minister Pravind Jugnauth in a money-laundering probe and seized stacks of cash in raids on fellow suspects’ homes, officials said.

Officers detained the 63-year-old along with his wife Kobita Jugnauth on Saturday and questioned them for several hours, police sources who asked not to be named told AFP.

Kobita Jugnauth was later released and Pravind Jugnauth was placed under formal arrest in the early hours of Sunday.

Pravind Jugnauth’s lawyer Raouf Gulbul told reporters: “He gave his version of events and denied the allegations made against him.”

He said the ex-premier would appear before a judge later on Sunday.

A police incident report seen by AFP detailed a search by officers at the home of another suspect, who works for a local leisure company.

It said they seized documents bearing the names of the Jugnauths, as well as luxury watches and stacks of various currencies.

Police also searched the home of a local real estate executive and seized suitcases of cash, local media reported.

The island’s Financial Crimes Commission had asked police to detain the Jugnauths and two other suspects if they tried to leave the country, in a notice issued on Saturday, citing investigations into “a case of money-laundering”.

– Chagos islands talks –

Prime minister from 2017 to 2024, Pravind Jugnauth is a member of one of the dynasties that have dominated the leadership of Mauritius, a stable and relatively prosperous Indian Ocean island nation, since it became independent from Britain in 1968.

He oversaw a historic deal with Britain for Mauritius to regain sovereignty over the Chagos Islands following a long-running dispute.

He and his Socialist Movement suffered a crushing defeat in tense elections in November.

He ceded office to centre-left rival Navin Ramgoolam, who became prime minister for the third time.

Ramgoolam’s government reopened the Chagos negotiations, reportedly seeking greater financial compensation and to renegotiate the length of the proposed lease for a joint UK-US military base.

Under the Chagos deal, Britain will retain a lease for the base on the island of Diego Garcia.

Both Mauritius and Britain have said US President Donald Trump’s administration will have a say on the final terms of the agreement.

The base is currently leased by Britain to the United States and has become one of its key military facilities in the Asia-Pacific.

During the election campaign, both camps promised to improve the lives of ordinary Mauritians who face cost-of-living difficulties despite strong economic growth.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mauritius is ensuring transparency in the financial services sector and there are no shell companies there, Mauritian minister Soomilduth Bholah has said as he pitched the island nation as the platform for Indian companies to tap the African market.

In an exclusive interview to PTI in the national capital, Mr. Bholah said that Mauritius is looking for investments from India, which he described as an economic powerhouse.

Mauritius always promotes good governance and focused on transparency. The country would love to learn from India in each and every sector, the Mauritius Financial Services and Good Governance Minister said.

The island nation, which has a long standing strong bilateral ties with India, is mainly looking for collaborative opportunities in the fintech space.

“It is a pleasure to be in India. I would say that while India is important for Mauritius, Mauritius is also important for India, especially in the financial services sector,” he said.

In response to a query on perception that there are concerns in certain quarters about the funds coming in from Mauritius, the minister said it is only a perception.

“It is only a perception… I can confirm that there are no shell companies in Mauritius. We are compliant with OECD (norms).

“We are ensuring that there is transparency… we are promoting transparency and this is what we want to inform anybody who has an iota of that perception,” he said.

Mauritius is also a significant source of Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI) coming into the Indian securities market and there were concerns about illegal routing of funds through shell companies.

The minister noted that the island nation has aligned its financial sector with international norms, including the OECD norms and FATF recommendations.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) leads global action to tackle money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an international organisation and a key body on international taxation matters.

Official data show that Mauritius was the third largest source of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for India with an inflow of USD 6.13 billion in 2022-23.

Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) acts as a hub for international banks, legal firms, corporate services, investment funds and private equity funds.

“(We are looking for investments) from India to Mauritius. We act as a platform between India and Africa, particularly and we have to show that to the Indian investors that we have progressed with regard to the ease of doing business,” Mr. Bholah said.

Highlighting various business aspects, the minister said Mauritius has various investment promotion and protection agreements and state of the art arbitration centre.

“The attraction is that we have a skilled workforce, we are bilingual, (through us) reach out to African countries. We have a good banking system, telecommunication and infrastructure here. These are (among) our forte,” he said.

According to India’s external affairs ministry, cumulative FDI worth $161 billion came from Mauritius to India in the two decades from 2000-2022, and the amount was 26 per cent of the total FDI inflows into India.

However, since signing of the amended Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC) in 2016, FDI inflows from Mauritius have dropped from $15.72 billion in 2016-17 to $6.13 billion in 2022-23, as per the ministry.

“We are not a competitor, we are more like a collaborator. This is what we want to tell India and Indian authorities… we look forward to more collaborations instead of competition (in the financial sector),” Mr. Bholah said.

Mauritius and India have a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) that came into force in April 2021.

Under the CECPA, India’s exports to Mauritius amounted to $1.1 million in 2021, $1.8 million in 2022 and $1.7 million in 2023 (Jan-Aug) comprising mainly textiles, quartz slabs and spices.

Mauritian exports to India under CECPA stood at $1 million in 2022 and $3.7 million in 2023 (Jan-Aug), comprising mainly medical devices and apparel. 15, as per the external affairs ministry.

Currently, a high-level business delegation from Mauritius is on a ten-day visit to India and will be visiting the national capital, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

“We are meeting so many stakeholders to enhance our collaboration and to show that we are here for India to go to Africa… I believe that it is wise for Indian investors to go through Mauritius platform rather than go individually and it will be beneficial for Indian investors,” the minister said.

The delegation, part of the Mauritius International Financial Centre (IFC) will conclude its visit on March 23.

After the visit of its mission to Mauritius in January, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the Mauritian economy rebounded strongly from the pandemic.

“Advancing structural reforms, including by sustaining compliance with Anti Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) standards, improving governance, reducing skill mismatches in the labour market, and fostering digitalisation and climate-resilient infrastructure investment is key to supporting private sector investment and promoting economic diversification,” IMF’s Mariana Colacelli said in a statement in February.

Port Louis, Mauritius:

Mauritius grounded flights and shut schools as a strong tropical storm approached the Indian Ocean island on Thursday, the meteorological services said.

Storm Eleanor was about 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of the nation at 4:00 am (0000 GMT) and was moving at a speed of 20 kilometres an hour, the weather service said.

“The wind will initially blow from the south-east at a speed of around of around 40 km/h reaching 110 km/h by midday, strengthening to over 120 km/h,” it said in a bulletin.

The country’s main international airport operator said the facility would close, with national carrier Air Mauritius cancelling flights scheduled for departure on Thursday morning.

Public transport was also halted and schools shut.

Renowned for its spectacular white sandy beaches and turquoise waters, the remote island nation also lies in the pathway of occasional cyclones.

In January, tropical storm Belal killed one person, left thousands without power, flooded buildings and caused traffic chaos.

About a dozen storms or cyclones occur each year in the southwest Indian Ocean during the November-April season.

In February last year, Mauritius was lashed by heavy rains and high winds from Cyclone Freddy, which caused a wave of death and destruction across southeastern Africa including in Malawi, Mozambique and Madagascar.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)