Mauritius busts ‘Ponzi’ scheme

PORT LOUIS: A “Ponzi” investment scheme has been found at Mauritian lender Bramer Banking Corp Ltd (BBCL), the country’s premier said yesterday, after the country's central bank revoked its licence and appointed liquidators.

The central bank said an onsite examination conducted at BBCL from January 22 to February 20 revealed a number of significant deficiencies which had been conveyed to the bank.

“The Bank of Mauritius has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as receivers for BBCL,” Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth told reporters yesterday.

“We had to act rapidly because we are in (the) presence of a Ponzi scheme of about 25 billion rupees ($693 million).”