Mauritius beware: British MP's in rebellion over 'tainted money' offshore

British Conservative MP’s (around 20 of them) are in a rebellious course and are expected to defy the prime minister to require British overseas territories to introduce transparency.

Prime Minister Theresa May is to face the challenge over a crackdown on dirty money sheltered in UK tax havens.

But there is resistance from the Foreign Office, which insists it cannot dictate to other elected governments in the overseas territories.

However, the MP’s pointed out that Britain has imposed its will before, in abolishing capital punishment for example.

While they are after Russian money which they believe is parked in UK tax havens, their actions could also spark vigilantes to target ex-British territories.

Mauritius is one such country that has recently been exposed as a ‘dirty money laundering’ centre.

A recent report from the Panama Papers exposed the activities of Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais in the Mauritian offshore financial centre.

It showed that Bastos was operating the Angolan Sovereign Fund’s money and had transferred a substantial amount of cash to Mauritius.

Following this report – which WFTV published first – the local authorities in Mauritius issued order to freeze Rs 17,2 billion.

The monnies were parked in four Mauritian banks.

A Proprietary and Freezing Injunction from the High Court of London, dating 27 April, followed suit.

Around US$3 billion were frozen in the U.K.

Bastos de Morais is the founder and CEO of the Quantum Global group.

Britain could target Mauritius and other offshore services in ex-British states across the globe in its bid to wipe out ‘dirty money’.

This could put Mauritius in the limelight of an international witch-hunt against money laundering.