India, Mauritius ink pact during PM's visit to curb money laundering, graft

During the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India and Mauritius signed an agreement to enhance cooperation in combating money laundering, corruption, fraud, asset recovery and the financing of illicit activities, the ED said Thursday.

The collaboration between Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Financial Crimes Commission (FCC) of Mauritius will "bolster" financial enforcement capabilities and will also contribute to broader economic and security cooperation between the two nations, the federal probe agency said in a statement.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was exchanged in the presence of Modi and Prime Minister of Mauritius Navinchandra Ramgoolam.

During the discussions leading to the MoU, the ED and the FCC explored the possibilities of "joint operations" to detect, investigate and prosecute cross-border money laundering offences, according to the ED.

They also underlined the significance of exchange programmes, experience sharing, training and skill building of the officers of both the organisations, it said.

"Discussions were held on how ED can assist FCC by providing technological assistance and sharing of their digital forensic tools and best practices, towards ensuring better data seizing and extraction, and more productive data analysis," the statement said.

It said ED Director Rahul Navin highlighted the agency's expertise in financial crime investigations, its "high" conviction rate in money laundering trials, and its "successful" track record in asset tracing, confiscation, and recovery.

The ED Director also underscored the legal mechanisms available under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to safeguard the interests of victims by enabling asset restitution even during the pendency of trials.

"He (Navin) highlighted how ED has successfully restituted assets to the tune of INR 2.6 billion (Rs 226 crore) to the victims," it said.

The collaboration between ED and FCC will not only bolster financial enforcement capabilities but will also contribute to broader economic and security cooperation between India and Mauritius, the statement said.