Breaking News - 1st February 2018 - First cases to be submitted to the Attorney General

Press Statement: 1st February 2018

The Chief Executive Officer of the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles (ACCS), Ms May De Silva met with the Attorney General, Mr Frank Ally on the 31st January 2018, to initiate the formal process in handing over three cases which the Commission have been investigating for the past 6 months. ACCS is confident that it is handing over sufficient evidence to the Attorney General for his office to pursue the matter in accordance to Section 64 of the Anti-Corruption Act 2016.

It needs to be noted that the Act stipulates that "no prosecution" shall be instituted except by, or with, the consent of the Attorney General.

Those cases relate to the following:
  • AG Case 1 - alleged abuse of position by a former Minister.
  • AG Case 2 - alleged abuse of position and liability for corrupt acquisitions by another former Minister.
  • AG Case 3 - alleged unlawful acquisition and misuse of public funds by a public servant.

Furthermore, ACCS has completed Case 4 relating to an allegation of abuse of power where an illegal business is operating on government land without following due process. Despite insufficient evidence of corruption in this case, ACCS identified illegal activities. This case was referred to the Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Land Transport in November 2017 and ACCS still awaits the Ministry's report and actions. MHILT had been given 30 days as per section 18 (2) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2016, to submit their report to ACCS and take necessary actions to rectify the problem.

Case 5 relates to an allegation of abuse of power and corrupt practices. Due to insufficient evidence of corruption, ACCS will be referring this case to the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture as there is ample evidence of malpractice. The Ministry will be receiving recommendations from ACCS whereby they will have to compensate the individual affected. The Ministry will have 30 days to submit their report to ACCS and actions to be taken in order to rectify the problem.

With regards to the USD 50 million case, ACCS can confirm that it submitted over 3.5 kg of documents that was collated over the past six months in Seychelles to investigators in the UK. ACCS continues to gather local evidence and statements following a new line of enquiry. Should anyone have any information relating to this case, please do not hesitate to contact ACCS.

It is worth noting that ACCS currently have only two investigation officers who had to review over 92 bulky files in the 5 cases mentioned.

To date, ACCS have received 74 complaints of which 3 have been closed and 7 referred to relevant authorities as they did not relate to corruption.

ACCS will continue to detect, investigate and prevent corruption as per its mandate.