AFP

Former Bank of Mauritius governor Harvesh Seegolam has been charged with fraud, his lawyer said Thursday, in a case involving allegations of illegal disbursements from a state-run investment company.

The Mauritius Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) said late Wednesday that Seegolam and ex-finance minister Renganaden Padayachy had been arrested in relation to a case of alleged embezzlement.

The graft allegations have drawn attention in the Indian Ocean nation because of the role played by Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC), a company owned by the central bank, and the involvement of high-ranking former finance officials.

Seegolam was released on bail on Thursday, his attorney Roshi Bhadain said.

Padayachy was remanded in custody until a hearing on April 14, according to a decision of the Port Louis District Court.

“I have not yet filed a motion for release because I do not yet know what my client is accused of. He will be back in court this Monday,” his lawyer Raouf Gulbul said.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing.

Police are investigating suspicions of embezzlement at MIC, which was established to limit the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic in the country, police sources said.

The two men are accused of artificially inflating the valuation of a company, EastCoast Hotel Investment, in which MIC had invested, which lost 300 million Mauritian rupees (approximately $6.6 million) for MIC, the sources said.

The FCC statement said they two men had been detained “in connection with the ongoing investigation into the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC) case… for the offence of fraud by abuse of position”.

It gave no further details.

Seegolam was previously arrested and released on bail in January for another MIC-related case that involved the disbursement of around $1.1 million to Menlo Parks Ltd./Pulse Analytics, a polling company.

Padayachy was not prosecuted in that case, but was banned from leaving the country under penalty of imprisonment.