Toxic Loan of Rs 470 Million: FCC Targets Maradiva Board
The Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) is intensifying its investigation into the Rs 470 million loan to Maradiva Resort. The inquiry aims to ascertain whether the former CEO of the State Bank of Mauritius (SBM) was influenced to favor Dhyanavartam Ltd, a company heavily burdened with debt.
The FCC is expanding its probe into the controversial Rs 470 million loan granted to the Maradiva Villas Resort & Spa, now targeting additional board members beyond Sanjiv Kailash Ramdanee and Premchand Mungur.
On Wednesday, Sanjiv Ramdanee, CEO and brother of the hotel’s president Kobita Jugnauth, was released on bail after spending a night at the Moka Detention Centre. The conspiracy investigation also involves Premchand Mungur, former CEO of SBM, who was re-arrested on Tuesday in connection with this case, having been previously detained in June.
According to the FCC, a meeting held at SBM Tower in mid-July 2024 played a crucial role in the loan's approval. Present were Premchand Mungur, then chairman of the Management Credit Forum, and Sanjiv Ramdanee. Investigators suspect that Premchand Mungur misled the SBM board, presenting Dhyanavartam Ltd, the company behind Maradiva Resorts, as financially sound, despite the firm being deeply in debt and lacking adequate guarantees for the loan.
The FCC's investigation highlights a potential breach of SBM's credit procedures in the handling of this case, as Rs 470 million was granted despite these violations.
Beyond the duo of Ramdanee and Mungur, the FCC is trying to determine if other key figures may have influenced the former CEO of SBM, viewed as pivotal in the loan's approval process. The board of Dhyanavartam Ltd includes, in addition to president Kobita Jugnauth and her brother Sanjiv Ramdanee, Lady Ursule Jeanine Ramdanee, Kobita's mother, and Derek Lam Po Tang.
This case is set against a broader backdrop: in 2020, Dhyanavartam Ltd (formerly Mauriplage Beach Resort Ltd) secured Rs 650 million for the renovation of its hotel complex, fully funded by the Mauritius Investment Corporation (MIC) until June 2022. In February 2024, an additional request for Rs 350 million was approved, bringing the total MIC financing to Rs 1.65 billion, aimed at supporting the development of this five-star hotel on the West Coast at Wolmar.
