Pravind Jugnauth Arrested & Held on Money Laundering Charges

Pravind Jugnauth, the former Prime Minister, has been arrested. Following more than six hours of questioning at the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC), he was escorted to the Moka Detention Centre, where he spent the night. He has been arrested and is facing a provisional charge of money laundering. His lawyer, Me Raouf Gulbul, insisted that he denied all allegations.

Kobita Jugnauth, the former Prime Minister’s wife, was permitted by FCC to return home after the late-night questioning.

Early on Sunday, February 16th, the FCC spokesman announced that investigators had searched no fewer than ten locations related to the alleged money laundering case and that Rs 114 million was found at one of these locations.

The investigation began with the arrests of Josian Deelawon, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of My Holidays Ltd, also at the head of MyGroup, a Mauritius-based conglomerate focusing on real estate and tourism. Chandradeo Nitish Oomah, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of My Holidays Ltd and MyGroup, was also arrested on Saturday after several suitcases of cash were seized.

Foreign currencies (dollars, euros, francs, pounds sterling, rand, dirhams…), luxury watches, hotel receipts from abroad, and travel documents in the name of Kobita Jugnauth were also found at the home of Oomah Chandradeo in Pointe-aux-Canonniers.

The FCC immediately issued a circular on Saturday, February 15th, to the Commissioner of Police and the Director-General of the Passport and Immigration Office, requesting that they be notified immediately if the former Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, his wife Kobita Jugnauth, her brother Sanjiv Ramdanee, or Basoodeo Seetaram, a director of several companies and close to the former regime, attempted to leave the country.

The investigation led to a search of the former Prime Minister’s home on Angus Road, Vacoas, as well as his and his wife Kobita’s questioning at the FCC premises in Réduit.

Source: Defi Media