FBI Joins Mauritius Probe Into 777 Boeing Sanctions Bust Plot

US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents have travelled to Mauritius to collaborate with the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) on the international aspects of the sprawling Boeing corruption case.

MILLIONS IN ‘GRATIFICATION’ PAYMENT LINKED TO SANCTIONS-BUSTING SCHEME

The major development, revealed in an affidavit by the FCC, confirms the probe has widened significantly, focusing on a scheme allegedly designed to circumvent international sanctions against Iran for the benefit of the Iranian airline Mahan Air.

The core allegation centres on a suspicious financial flow of €5 million (approximately Rs 258 million) allegedly paid to central suspect, Malagasy businessman Mamy Ravatomanga, as a “gratification” for a setup enabling the provisional registration of five Boeing 777 aircraft.

• The funds reportedly passed through Hong Kong before being injected into the Mauritian banking system.
• The commission was allegedly paid via Udaan Potentials Ltd, a company incorporated in Mauritius on November 28, 2019, and dissolved on January 16, 2024—the day before the provisional registration certificates were issued in Madagascar.
• One of the company’s directors, Khushwinder Singh, who faces a complaint of falsified documents from Madagascar’s Civil Aviation authority, has reportedly named Ravatomanga as a key coordinator of the scheme.
• The FCC’s affidavit details the modus operandi of the businessman: companies involved in sensitive transactions, believed to be front companies, are quickly dissolved or re-domiciled.

FBI AND FCC COLLABORATE: STRATEGIC EXPERTISE vs. LOCAL EVIDENCE

The FBI investigators spent a week in Mauritius holding a working session with FCC officers.

• The FBI is providing strategic expertise on aeronautical operations and transnational financial schemes.
• The FCC is honing its local investigation, which is already rich with banking evidence and corroborating testimonies.

The FCC and FBI’s collaboration included a technical session on the sensitive aspect of the Boeing sale, potentially aimed at bypassing international sanctions.

SUSPECT’S HEALTH BATTLE: HEART COMPLICATIONS AND DETENTION TENSIONS

The health of Mamy Ravatomanga remains a central factor in legal proceedings as the ruling on his place of detention approaches today.

• The businessman has undergone two surgical interventions and is under constant medical surveillance, oscillating between a clinic, Victoria Hospital, and the Moka Detention Centre.
• His camp is citing cardiac and post-operative complications in its appeals, following successive hospitalisations.
• On Friday morning, November 28, a cardiac check-up at the hospital found him to be stable. However, once in detention on Friday afternoon, he declared he was suffocating.
• The FCC had previously agreed to continue its interrogation over the weekend to accelerate the procedure, but his health reportedly deteriorated at the Moka Detention Centre.
• Only his treating physician from Victoria Hospital can establish a clear diagnosis.

Despite the delays caused by the pause in Ravatomanga’s interrogation, the overall investigation is reported to be advancing rapidly.

WIDER PROBE UNCOVERS PHANTOM FIRMS AND FROZEN ASSETS

The FCC affidavit has systematically dismantled Ravatomanga’s defence claims, uncovering a case with international ramifications.

• The probe describes the disappearance or re-domiciliation of companies. For example, Durban International Traders Ltd was defunct in Mauritius and transferred to the Seychelles under the name Camellia International Ltd, where Ravatomanga is a signatory on a bank account with Warwyck Bank.
• The FCC identified four active bank accounts linked to Essential Time Group Ltd (despite its de-registration) containing a total of:
  • EUR 18,000 (approx. Rs 925,000)
  • USD 8,536,543.91 (approx. Rs 384,144,476)
  • USD 3,000,000 (approx. Rs 135,000,000)
  • USD 750,000 (approx. Rs 33,750,000)

The internationalisation of the dossier is further supported by 2025 identification by Malagasy authorities of a network linked to the provisional registration of the Boeing 777s, with statements from Fanirisoa Ernaivo (now Madagascar’s Minister of Justice) backing the claim of Ravatomanga’s supposed role in various corruption schemes.

Source: l’Express