Former central bank governor arrested for alleged fraud

Police in Mauritius have arrested the former central bank governor for alleged conspiracy to defraud the nation, the first casualty of an audit of public finances under the new Government of Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam. According to Fin24, former Governor Harvesh Seegolam was arrested on return to the Indian Ocean island nation from Dubai on Friday, a spokesman for the Mauritius Police Force said. The Central Criminal Investigation Department questioned him before a court appearance on provisional charges. Seegolam headed the central bank from March 2020 to November 2024 and was replaced by Rama Sithanen, appointed after the four-party Alliance du Changement won elections. Last month, Ramgoolam criticised the central bank for setting up a unit known as the Mauritius Investment Corp (MIC) that he said exposed the bank to significant credit risk and losses. Police are investigating MIC’s disbursement of 45m rupees to a high-risk company, news website defimedia.info reported Friday. ‘Those who have run the country for the past 10 years have taken the country to the precipice,’ Ramgoolam said in his New Year’s address. ‘One by one, they will be held to account regardless of the level at which they exercised their power, but it will be done within the framework of the law.’

Full Fin24 report