VZCZCXRO7500
RR RUEHDU RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHPL #0205/01 1641211
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) 
 
¶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