🇲🇺 Silver Bank's collapse leaves savers with a Rs 300K ceiling and a lot of questions

Silver Bank's collapse leaves savers with a Rs 300K ceiling and a lot of questions

"Fraud, theft, and a siphoning of funds": that is how Abdel Ruhomutally, managing director of GFA Insurance Ltd, describes what happened at Silver Bank, the failed institution whose depositors are now being told they'll receive a maximum of Rs 300,000 from the Mauritius Deposit Insurance Corporation. Ruhomutally points out a glaring contradiction: the Economic Development Board requires foreign investors to park Rs 3 million in a local bank for a professional permit, yet the safety net covers only 10% of that.

Other depositors and businesses are blaming the Bank of Mauritius for failing to supervise Silver Bank before it went under. Companies may be entirely excluded from compensation: the official notice specified payouts only for "individual depositors residing in Mauritius." Ruhomutally is calling for a full audit and wants to know when the Rs 300,000 figure was last reviewed.

Mauritius pitches itself as a safe financial hub. Days like this make that pitch harder to sell.

Suspended ACP Gangadin's Rs 160M money probe is heading to the DPP

The Financial Crimes Commission's investigation into Assistant Commissioner of Police Dunraz Gangadin is in its final stretch. Investigator Vijay Sahye told Port Louis court on Wednesday that the file will shortly go to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the office that decides whether formal charges proceed.

Gangadin, 63 and suspended since his arrest in July 2025, faces two provisional money-laundering charges. Investigators say he held Rs 102.2 million in his accounts between January 2023 and March 2024, then Rs 58.192 million more between June and October 2024.

Rs 1.1 million cocaine bust at a Riambel bungalow, Portuguese woman arrested

Police seized cocaine worth an estimated Rs 1.1 million from a bungalow in Riambel on Wednesday, arresting a 41-year-old Portuguese woman. Officers from the Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit, the ADSU, acted on a tip-off.

Separate ADSU raids in Rose-Belle earlier in the week netted three more arrests and additional drug seizures, suggesting investigators are tracking a wider supply network across the south of the island.

FCC arrests 25-year-old in Baie-du-Tombeau over alleged money laundering

A 25-year-old from Baie-du-Tombeau was arrested Thursday by the Financial Crimes Commission in connection with a money-laundering investigation. His car was seized. No further details on the amounts suspected to be involved were disclosed.

If Starmer falls, the Chagos deal could fall with him

Port Louis is watching London with unease. Starmer's position is wobbling, and sources close to the Mauritian government say a leadership change would "definitely complicate things" for the Chagos sovereignty deal. A Labour successor might hold course, but a Conservative government would likely kill the deal entirely.

Shorts

Energy crackdown nets 27 complaints – Energy Ministry inspectors flagged 27 complaints and eight infractions at malls, schools and public buildings.

ZEP school food probe still open – Education Minister Gungapersad is awaiting lab results before commenting on the ZEP school food poisoning cases.

Women earn 20% less: UTM study – A UTM study finds women in Mauritius earn 20% less than men across comparable roles.

Health unions demand protection – Health unions are calling for better security after a SAMU crew was attacked in Petite-Riviere on Sunday.

Casino union fires back at PM – Casino workers' union hit back at PM Ramgoolam's remarks on SIC casinos, saying staff concerns are dismissed.

Rs 14.8 billion

Nine-month pre-tax profit at MCB Group, a 13% jump on the year, as the bank's commercial activity and debt recoveries both improved through to end-March.

75 years

Prison sentence handed to Nigeria's former power minister Saleh Mamman for siphoning millions from hydro-electricity projects meant to address his country's chronic power shortages.

14th

Ligue 1 title for PSG, a record-extending championship sealed with a 2-0 win at Lens as the club chases a historic treble this season.

Nobel winner says the US-Congo deal is about minerals, not peace

Denis Mukwege, the Congolese doctor who won the Nobel Peace Prize for treating survivors of wartime rape, has a blunt warning about the US-brokered peace process in DR Congo: it is less a peace deal than a resources grab. Mukwege says the arrangement is structured to give Washington access to the DRC's vast mineral wealth without offering real security guarantees to Congolese civilians.

Hard to argue with a man who spent three decades stitching people back together in eastern Congo.

HRW documents killings and rape by M23 forces in Uvira

Human Rights Watch says M23 rebels and Rwandan forces carried out summary executions, rape, and enforced disappearances during a month-long occupation of Uvira in eastern DR Congo.

Indian pharma firms are feeding a new opioid crisis in West Africa

Indian pharmaceutical firms are flooding West Africa with synthetic opioids as tighter regulations squeeze their access to wealthier markets.

Streeting quits the cabinet to challenge Starmer, saying he has no confidence left

UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from PM Keir Starmer's cabinet Thursday, becoming the first senior minister to break ranks after Labour's election drubbing. Around 100 Labour MPs are also calling for PM Starmer to go.

PM Starmer says he will fight. Angela Rayner and others may enter the race too. Port Louis is watching closely: the Chagos sovereignty deal depends on PM Starmer staying in power.

Trump and Xi agree in Beijing: the Strait of Hormuz must stay open

Trump and Xi wrapped up talks in Beijing and agreed the Strait of Hormuz must stay open; no ceasefire was announced.

Russian drones hit Kyiv overnight, killing one and injuring 31

A large-scale Russian drone and missile barrage struck Kyiv in the early hours of Thursday, leaving at least one dead and 31 injured, local officials said.

The invasive plant Mauritius keeps cutting down is now being turned into jewellery

Ravenala, the traveller's palm that invades Mauritian forests and crowds out endemic species, has always been cut down and left to rot. A new project is asking: what if it's also a raw material? An exhibition at Vallée-des-Prêtres this Friday showcases paper, rope, jewellery, and bio-composite panels made from its fibres.

Turn the invasive into the useful. Not the worst idea the island has had.