Mauritius government MP slapped with 2 formal charges of forgery

Mauritian government MP (Member of Parliament) Yogida Sawmynaden has been charged by the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Intermediate Court of forgery. The 46-year-old former Minister of Commerce faces two charges – one for “forgery of private writing” and another for “making use of forged private writing.”

Defi Media cited legal experts as explaining that, in accordance with the Criminal Code Act, articles 108 to 112 outline the two offences and the corresponding penalties. Both offences carry a maximum sentence of 20 years, making it a cumulative total of 40 years if the ex-minister is convicted of both crimes.

According to the prosecution’s case, the offences were committed on January 28, 2020, at his former office in Ébène, where he allegedly drafted a false declaration. The case will be called for the first time on August 7, 2023.

These charges are part of the Constituency Clerk case, where Simla Kistnen, the widow of Soopramanien Kistnen, a former agent of the MSM ruling party, lodged a complaint with the police, claiming to have been denied financial assistance from the MRA during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She further alleged that in March 2020, she was shocked to learn that the MRA had listed her as Yogida Sawmynaden’s Constituency Clerk, a position she had never held, nor received a monthly salary of Rs 15,000 for such a role.

Source: Defi Media