Air Mauritius/Grant Thornton - Rs 3.6M Unclaimed: Sattar Hajee Abdoula's Explanations Awaited

Air Mauritius/Grant Thornton - Rs 3.6M Unclaimed: Explanations from Sattar Hajee Abdoula are awaited. The FCC wants to understand why Sattar Hajee Abdoula, a director of Air Mauritius in April 2020, did not demand the reimbursement of Rs 3.6 million from Grant Thornton, which was paid in March 2020 for Advisory Services deemed incomplete by the national carrier.

Sattar Hajee Abdoula, CEO of Grant Thornton, was appointed as a director of Air Mauritius in April 2020, alongside Arvindsingh Gokhool. He is to be questioned by the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) regarding the failure to claim Rs 3.6 million paid in March 2020 for unfinished Advisory Services.

According to the FCC's investigation, which led to his arrest on Wednesday, November 19, for alleged money laundering, Grant Thornton had received this amount from Air Mauritius. However, the work was not completed, and the required reports were not submitted, as stated by the national airline.

Sattar Hajee Abdoula's interrogation is currently on hold. The CEO is hospitalized at C-Care Wellkin Clinic in Réduit. Once he is discharged, he will face emails sent in 2020 to his colleague Mariam Rajabally, a Partner at Grant Thornton. These messages concern the guidelines and instructions related to the Advisory Services contract billed at Rs 3,696,000, paid into a dedicated account for Transaction Advisory Services and Corporate Finance. These emails have already been secured by investigators.

Meanwhile, the FCC is awaiting the conclusions of the Kroll Forensic report. This international firm was commissioned in June 2023 to examine the period of voluntary administration between April 2020 and September 2021. The aim is to shed light on the sales, leases, and orders of aircraft. During this period, five aircraft were sold, two older Airbus A330s were leased as replacements, and an order for three A350-900s was placed in 2023.

Under Abdoula's administration, Grant Thornton reportedly received Rs 141 million from Air Mauritius. The FCC wants to verify whether the tenders and aircraft acquisitions adhered to procedures and anti-money laundering and anti-corruption legislation.

On Monday afternoon, FCC investigators conducted a raid at the headquarters of Grant Thornton Mauritius, located on the 9th floor of Ébène Tower, to search for documents related to the investigation into the payment of Rs 3.6 million received for Advisory Services on behalf of Air Mauritius in March 2020.

However, upon returning to the Réduit Triangle headquarters, FCC vehicles were loaded with cardboard boxes filled with bottles of liquor. In addition to these bottles, the Commission seized a safe and luxury pens. Investigators will need to examine the evidence recovered.