Mauritius police have issued an arrest warrant for Harvesh Kumar Seegolam, the former central bank governor, as part of an ongoing investigation into a conspiracy to defraud case.
The police anti-money laundering unit took the action following allegations of economic mismanagement under the previous administration. Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who recently returned to power, accused the former government of manipulating key economic indicators, including the country’s GDP, budget deficit, and public debt figures.
Seegolam, currently outside Mauritius, will be detained upon his return, according to a notice published in local newspapers on Sunday. However, the police provided no additional details about the allegations. Efforts to contact Seegolam for comment were unsuccessful.
In a report presented to parliament, Ramgoolam also criticized the central bank for printing money to fund the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC), an entity established in 2020 to support businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report alleged that this funding should have come from the bank’s official foreign exchange reserves.
“The printing of money by the Bank of Mauritius to fund the MIC was an irresponsible act which has had deleterious effects on the monetary system, especially since the banking system already had excess liquidity,” the report stated.
This marks the first major anti-corruption action under Ramgoolam’s government.
