Betamax’s Vikram Bhunjun just got richer by Rs5.7 billion

Businessman Veekram Bhunjun became richer by almost Rs6billion last night.

The bank transfer to Betamax comes after the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council declared void a ruling of the Supreme Court of Mauritius to refuse compensations for breach of contract over the supply of petroleum products.

The Privy Council upheld an earlier verdict by a Singapore Arbitration Court sentencing the State Trading Corporation to pay almost $135million to the company.

Sought for a comment, Bhujun reportedly told l’Express he was “pleasantly surprised” since the STC had demanded, earlier this week, to extend the deadline set from June 22 to June 28.

The STC not being able to pay the full amount, it nonetheless disbursed Rs1.5 billion. The remaining Rs4.2 billion was chipped in by the Ministry of Finance.

The payment is the conclusion of a six-year legal battle, which continues to raise questions about cronyism and political vengeance.