Stanford Asset Holdings Ltd and another (Appellants) v AfrAsia Bank Ltd (Respondent) (Mauritius)
Case ID: JCPC 2023/0011
Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of Mauritius
Case summary
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.
Parties
Appellant(s)
(1) Stanford Asset Holdings Ltd
(2) The Greenway PCC
Respondent(s)
(1)AfrAsia Bank Ltd
(2)The Financial Services Commission
(3)Financial Intelligence Unit
Appeal
Justices
Lord Reed, Lord Briggs, Lord Hamblen, Lord Burrows, Sir Nicholas Underhill
Hearing start date
26 June 2023
Hearing finish date
26 June 2023
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 26 June 2023 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
Decision
Decision date
6 July 2023
09:45 am Courtroom 3
This is decision only, the full judgment will be published in due course.
| Watch Decision video | |
|---|---|
| 6 July 2023 | Decision video |
Judgment details
Judgment date
10 October 2023
Neutral citation
[2023] UKPC 35
This Judgment was reuploaded on 10 October 2023 to update the representation page