𝗠𝗥𝗔 𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗠𝗟/𝗖𝗙𝗧 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀

Around 84 participants availed themselves of this seminar. The seminar explored the effective application of AML/CFT measures aimed at detecting, investigating, and prosecuting Money Laundering cases. It was also an opportunity to share with all relevant stakeholders the achievements of the Mauritius Revenue Authority in this area and highlight its role in supporting law enforcement agencies and promoting compliance with tax laws and regulations.

Dr. Navin Beekarry, Director-General of Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), was the Chief Guest of this seminar. Mr. Sudhamo Lal, the Director-General of the MRA, Mr. Ramloll, Solicitor-General, Mr. Paul Keyton, Director, Integrity Reporting Services Agency (IRSA), Mr. Jagganaden Muneesamy, Principal State Counsel, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Management Team of MRA were also present.

Dr. Navin Beekarry talked about the three phases of compliance. “𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 2025.”

He stated that Mauritius is seeking to become a very strong International Financial Center compliant with the existing regulations. He outlined that sharing of information among agencies is equally important.

Mr. Sudhamo Lal, the Director-General of the MRA, underlined that this seminar has provided a valuable opportunity to discuss the challenges face in the fight against tax evasion and money laundering. According to him, tax evasion and money laundering are the two sides of the same coin. “𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘹𝘦𝘴, 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘺”.

MRA has made sustained efforts to combat tax evasion and it is also working closely with its partners in law enforcement agencies to investigate and initiate prosecution cases of tax evasion. MRA has established a strong working relationship with the ICAC, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the Police, the IRSA and other regulatory and supervisory agencies, such as the Bank of Mauritius (BOM) and the Financial Services Commission (FSC) to share relevant information and intelligence to the investigations.

To promote cooperation and sharing of information, the Customs Act was amended to cater for cooperation and sharing of information with enforcement and investigative bodies such as ICAC, FIU and Police and investigation into suspicious cases of money laundering. There has been an increase in the number of information shared with FIU.

In fact, 361 currency declaration information were sent to FIU in 2020 and 527 in 2022. During the year 2022, nine cases were referred to ICAC on suspicion of smuggling and in 37 cases, administrative sanctions were applied. The amount of Rs 2.5 million, in terms of penalty for breach of laws concerning the Physical cross-border transportation of currency/ BNI were collected in 2020 and this amount has increased to nearly Rs 6 million in 2022.

It was also an opportunity to launch the 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁. The Guide offers practical guidance on some of the rules contained in the Code of Conduct and Ethics (CCE), and the relevant laws which pertain to conflict of interest. It aims to facilitate an effective implementation of the CCE and to ensure the compliance by all officers and members of the MRA with the laws governing conflict of interests.