Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08PORTLOUIS205
2008-06-12 12:11:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy Port Louis
Cable title:  

NOT SO SUBTLE CORRUPTION IN MAURITIUS

Tags:  ASEC ECON EFIN PBTS PGOV MP 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 121211Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT LOUIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4041
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHAN/AMEMBASSY ANTANANARIVO 0770
RUEHOR/AMEMBASSY GABORONE 0285
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 2455
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RHMFISS/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHPIGXW/CJTF HOA
RUCNFB/FBI WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT LOUIS 000205 

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/EX, DS/IP/AF
PRETORIA FOR LEGATT, ICE, DEA
GABORONE FOR ILEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018
TAGS: ASEC ECON EFIN PBTS PGOV MP
SUBJECT: NOT SO SUBTLE CORRUPTION IN MAURITIUS

Classified By: RSO Brian A. Roundy, Reason 1.4(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 PORT LOUIS 000205

SENSITIVE

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/EX, DS/IP/AF
PRETORIA FOR LEGATT, ICE, DEA
GABORONE FOR ILEA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2018
TAGS: ASEC ECON EFIN PBTS PGOV MP
SUBJECT: NOT SO SUBTLE CORRUPTION IN MAURITIUS

Classified By: RSO Brian A. Roundy, Reason 1.4(d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Recent allegations and press reports on
corruption scandals in Mauritius highlight an often
overlooked issue by those new to or unfamiliar with the
island. Upon first impression, Mauritius may look
relatively clean, but with some digging - one may find
questionable dealings under the surface. Despite the
founding of Mauritius' Independent Commission Against
Corruption (ICAC) in 2002, the country still suffers from
a pervasive and ingrained problem. END SUMMARY.

--------------
Corruption according to Cunningham
--------------


2. (C) RSO Port Louis recently met with the Director of
the Mauritius Customs service, Bert C. Cunningham, a
Canadian citizen who has held his post since October of

2002. Mauritian authorities brought Cunningham into
Mauritius, as an impartial foreigner to fight corruption
in the customs service. Despite some success, such as
securing a massive increase in customs duties paid
(without an increase in rates),Cunningham is currently
considering departing the island permanently. He is
frustrated in his efforts to bring to justice corrupt
officials in his own department; he suspects deeply-rooted
corruption in high levels of the government; and last but
not least - he received death threats against him.
Consequently, Cunningham sent his family back to Canada in
an effort to protect them.


3. (C) Cunningham mentioned several recent cases to RSO
(detailed in subparagraphs a through d below),all of which
he has complained about to the State Law Office and other
officials in the Prime Minister's Office, whom he feels to
be unresponsive due to "behind the scenes corruption.
" Cunningham stated that, during a meeting on April 11,
2008, with government officials, including the Financial
Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development, Ali Mansoor, and Deputy Commissioner of
Police, Khemraj Servansing, he was told in no uncertain terms

that he should remain quiet about the alleged corruption because
if it were to become public, it could bring down the
current government of Mauritius. Cunningham noted that he
felt warned or even threatened during the meeting.
Cunningham also stated that he recently received written
death threats, which he threw out. (RSO advised him to
retain such threats in the future.) Cunningham detailed
four cases as examples of corruption in Mauritius.
Details of cases a) through d) follow:

a) In the first example, Cunningham received word
from a confidential source that a large quantity of drugs
was on its way from Madagascar onboard a passenger ferry
vessel. On December 8, 2007, such a vessel arrived and a
special Customs team was ready to inspect the goods being
off-loaded, with plain clothes officers positioned at the
entrance to the port to watch for whomever may come to
take possession of the drugs. The officers noticed that
six Malagasy women were being held in secondary inspection
pending deportation by the immigration police. The
immigration police prevented the customs officers from
questioning the six women, and attempted to prevent the
inspection of their baggage and furniture. After finally
getting a look at the goods, 27 kilograms of hashish,
valued over $1 million, were found. The customs officer
at the port entrance reported seeing the head of the Anti-
Drug Smuggling Unit, Assistant Commissioner of Police,
Rampersad Sooroojebally, arrive at the port, speak to a
police officer, and then abruptly depart. Cunningham,
who views this behavior as highly suspicious, believes the
immigration police attempted to prevent the customs
officers from inspecting the cargo because the police
planned to "deport" the women and keep the drugs as part
of an organized smuggling operation. (Comment:
Sooroojebally's actions do seem suspicious because if he

PORT LOUIS 00000205 002 OF 004


was allegedly there to observe a drug bust; he did not go
into the port, view the evidence, or laud his officers
for the effort. End Note.) This incident could also be
explained, however, as evidence of an ongoing rivalry
between the Police and Customs Departments. Subsequent
media reports gave the ADSU full credit for the bust
without mentioning Customs. The lack of press attention
is typical according to Cunningham, who is quick to
emphasize that Customs is responsible for 80% of drug
seizures in the country, while the ADSU normally gets the
credit. End Comment.

b) A second case involves a Customs officer on the
island of Rodrigues. In this case, a female officer left
her normal post, traveled to the airport, and escorted a
male visitor through security checkpoints. They then
proceeded to a hotel, where police found them injecting
heroin, with a large quantity of heroin (most likely
just smuggled in) laying nearby. According to
Cunningham, the police beat the male smuggler to death
that evening while in custody. (Comment: To date, there
has been no press report of this incident. End Comment.)
Cunningham indicated the female officer has not been
charged with any crime and said he is being prevented
from firing her. By Cunningham's account, he was allowed
only to transfer her to a new position in Mauritius.
Cunningham feels that the smuggler was murdered to keep
the corruption ring under wraps, but also surmised that
the cover up may have been done to prevent the
disclosure of the death in police custody. Cunningham
stated that he has hundreds of officers that need to
be fired due to poor performance and probable
corruption, but the most severe measure he has been
able to take so far is to place some on administrative
leave with full pay.

c) A third case involves smuggling from
warehouses and the freeport. Containers were being
removed from the port without proper inspection using
forged documents with appropriate stamps and container
numbers that had been exported two weeks prior to the
incident. Cunningham presented the case to the State
Law Office for prosecution -- complete with confessions
-- however they refused to prosecute.

The complexity of the crime suggests that an organized
crime effort is underway that involves many different
port officials. While Customs officers have not
determined exact contents of the containers, they
suspect cigarettes, alcohol, and counterfeit goods.
The same operation did, however, result in the officers
finding several empty containers in the south of the
island. Despite the obtained confession, false
documentation, and the physical location of the
containers, the case was not prosecuted due to "lack of
evidence." Cunningham believes that the
Prosecutor's Office is covering up for "high level"
officials who are benefiting from the crime. In a
related cigarette smuggling case, a customs informant
who was about to provide evidence was found dead -
hanging in his hotel room. According to Cunningham,
this was an "assisted suicide."

d) Cunningham further alleged that the official
responsible for overseeing the destruction of all drugs
confiscated by police in Mauritius, privately admitted
to him that he in fact does not attend the actual
destruction. Cunningham implied that the drugs taken
in by police during busts are in turn sold by police.

--------------
The Press' Picture of Corruption
--------------


4. (C) Press reports buttress Cunningham's
allegations of corruption and, when coupled with them,
paint a dismal picture of corruption in Mauritius.

PORT LOUIS 00000205 003 OF 004


Subparagraphs a through c below recount recent
incidents of note:

a) The death of Major Crime Investigation Team
(MCIT) chief Prem Raddhoa of a heart attack was widely
touted as a national tragedy in the press, as he was
portrayed in many press reports as a "tough guy" cop
who always got his man. He enjoyed political support
from the Prime Minister's Office, even over objections
from the Commissioner of Police, Ramanooj Gopalsingh,
who stated that Raddhoa had "over fifty unresolved
charges of Police brutality against him." Shortly
after his death, authorities disassembled the MCIT
team that Raddhoa created, and reassigned the officers
to different units spanning the island. Subsequently,
a very large sum of cash was reportedly found in
Raddhoa's police locker when it was cleaned out after
his death. This led to a larger investigation into
the activities of the MCIT and to reports that
suggest that MCIT officers took "protection" money
from "businessmen, bookmakers and others." The
current head of the new MCIT states that the accused
officers "are living beyond their legal means."
Prior to Raddhoa's death, among other duties, the MCIT
was charged with assisting in cleaning up the gaming
industry and fighting against abuses of intellectual
property, two economic areas where, according to the
Mauritian Financial Intelligence Unit, corruption
abounds. (Comment: In a short walk around Port
Louis, high quality illegal copies of music CDs and
movie DVDs are sold out in the open at fixed
storefronts for about two dollars each, suggesting
that authorities are not at all serious about IPR
violation enforcement. End comment.)

b) A police officer at the Passport and
Immigration Office airport division and previous
graduate of a U.S. International Law Enforcement
Academy (ILEA) course in detecting fraudulent
documents held in Gaborone, was arrested for
facilitating an alien smuggling ring.

c) The Mauritius Revenue Authority, a body
created in 2005 at the suggestion of Cunningham,
which now oversees the Customs Service, recently
initiated inquiries on 77 of its employees. The
inquiry resulted in 26 receiving "severe warnings"
and four referred for further investigation.
Three of the four officers investigated for serious
infractions are customs officers who are suspected of
permitting large shipments of goods into the country
at a fraction of their normal duty in exchange for
large sums of cash deposited in family bank
accounts. (Comment: Cunningham helped the
governments of Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Malawi,
Kenya and Lesotho set up similar revenue
authorities. End comment.)


5. (C) Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam silenced
all calls for a special investigation into the MCIT
"protection money" during a November 27, 2007,
parliamentary session. Ramgoolam stated that the
Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC),
founded in 2002 as a result of the Prevention of
Corruption Act, has wide ranging powers including
access to bank accounts following a judge's order.
(Note: Post suspects that many in the government
feel that the ICAC, despite it's name, is not
independent at all. Many government officials
cite that ICAC officers are all appointed by and
owe their careers and loyalty to the Prime
Minister's Office. End Note.)

--------------
NATIONAL CORRUPTION SURVEY
--------------


PORT LOUIS 00000205 004.2 OF 004



6. (SBU) A review of a 2004 UNDP sponsored survey
on corruption in Mauritius reveals some interesting
statistics. Of citizens on the island of Mauritius,
corruption was named the largest national problem by
20.1 percent of the respondents, beating out
unemployment (17 percent),drugs (16.8 percent)
(Mauritius has one of the highest per capita heroin
use rates in the world),and poverty (12.9 percent).
The study noted that 16 percent of Mauritians surveyed
have been asked for a bribe in the past. Asked for
their perception about "high level" corruption in
the previous three years, 70.6% of respondents said
it had increased, while only 10.3% said it decreased.
As for the ICAC itself, people were asked about the
level of independence they thought ICAC had in its
investigations. "Not much independence" slightly
defeated "much independence" by a 24.3 to 22.4
percent margin.


7. (U) In the latest Corruption Perceptions Index
(CPI) published by Transparency International (TI)
in September 2007, Mauritius fell 11 positions from
the previous year, when it ranked 42nd in the world
with a score of 5.1 on a 10-point index, to be ranked
53rd with a score of 4.7. This latest score fails to
break the 5.0 threshold that TI considers to
represent a reasonable performance and places
Mauritius among the countries that have experienced
a significant worsening in the perceived levels of
corruption within the last year.


8. (SBU) Conclusion: Post believes that corruption
is a problem in Mauritian society that is
overlooked by a number of private businesses, NGO's
and Government agencies. Cunningham's allegations,
although startling, seem to be backed up by other
entities, and may be only the tip of the iceberg.
ICAC's web-site http://www.gov.mu/portal/sites/
icac/index.htm lists several recent prosecutions,
all of which are low level with minor penalties.
Post will monitor the progress of corruption
allegations and report on the outcome of the
various investigations.

CABRERA