Mauritius Duty Free Paradise: A curious arrangement with Fashion Style by Rakesh Gooljaury

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But what prompted the Mauritius Duty Free Paradise (MDFP) to offer such a guarantee to Fashion Style? Normally, an order for products is made by letter of credit, especially if the seller is unreliable. However, on March 19, 2013, the MDFP issued a letter of guarantee in favor of Fashion Style for an amount of Rs 40 million. Have there been any products delivered in return? We don’t know. Still, a few months later, Fashion Style is liquidated. In any case, this letter of guarantee does not seem to impose as a condition the delivery of goods to MDFP. “Normally, when a business buys products, it issues a letter of credit in favor of the seller,” one banker explains. “The letter of credit is already a guarantee to the seller that he will be paid provided the goods are delivered and conform to the order placed.” Thus, our interlocutor does not understand why the MDFP issued a sort of second guarantee in favor of Fashion Style.

“My lawyer is rich”
Because of this letter of guarantee, whether the products have been delivered or not, MDFP must therefore stop. But what has happened since 2015 is even more incredible. When, in May 2015, the Afrasia bank claimed Rs 40 million under the letter of guarantee, MDFP not only recognized that it was indebted to Afrasia but it made a commitment to settle the debt in 30 days. But don’t do it. And when Afrasia Bank requests and obtains in 2018 a garnishment representing this sum, the MDFP appeals and loses in 2020. Afrasia Bank had to sue the MDFP for it to succeed. Will the MDFP pay or appeal to a fullbench or the Privy Council? An employee of the duty-free shop is outraged. “We pay huge sums of money to the lawyers knowing full well that the case will be lost. What had to be done, however, was not done: why was such a guarantee issued and who signed it? Will the person responsible be penalized? ”

No one at the MDFP wants to speak or when we are spoken to, it is to say that we are not aware of this file.

Renovations, price abuse, computer system crash
An anonymous letter is circulating at the moment to denounce with proof some wrongdoing. Thus, we learn that despite the Covid-19 and the poor outlook for the post-border opening, the MDFP is fully engaged in renovating offices, shops and other premises. Tens of millions of rupees are spent on behalf of a recognized entrepreneur close to power. Cigarettes sold for twice as much as in supermarkets. Why ? An employee has an idea: “We bought cigarettes on purpose at high prices so that everyone’s share is also inflated.” And when we tried to retrieve information, the whole computer system crashed. There is also talk of exaggerated advertising spending in favor of a company owned by Rakesh Gooljaury. Of course, no one at the MDFP wants to talk to the press. If Rakesh Gooljaury answered us, it was to say that Fashion Style belonged to his brother before he hung up abruptly.

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