Stanford Asset Holdings Ltd and another (Appellants) v AfrAsia Bank Ltd (Respondent) (Mauritius)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2023/0011

Jurisdiction

Mauritius

Parties

Appellant(s)

Stanford Asset Holdings Ltd

The Greenway PCC

Respondent(s)

AfrAsia Bank Ltd

The Financial Services Commission

Financial Intelligence Unit

Issue

Did the Supreme Court of Mauritius err in refusing an application brought by the victim of an alleged fraud seeking to compel an innocent third party to disclose information relating to the alleged fraud?

Facts

In February 2022, as a result of an alleged fraud, over USD 11 million was transferred from an account belonging to Stanford Asset Holding Limited at AfrAsia Bank Limited ("AfrAsia") to the bank account of Key Stone Properties Limited ("Key Stone"). Approximately USD 4 million remains in the account of Key Stone and has been frozen. The remainder has been transferred into the accounts of unknown third parties. The Appellants brought an application seeking to compel AfrAsia to disclose information about the identity of the recipients of any of the allegedly misappropriated funds. The objective of their application is to trace, freeze and recover the funds.The Supreme Court of Mauritius refused the relief sought, setting aside the Appellants' application. The Appellants have been granted final leave to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

30 January 2023

Judgment details

Judgment date

10 October 2023

Neutral citation

[2023] UKPC 35

Judgment links

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Briggs

Lord Hamblen

Lord Burrows

Sir Nicholas Underhill

Hearing dates

Start date

26 June 2023

End date

26 June 2023

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