SEYCHELLES REALITY

Nations such as Belize, Marshall Islands, Seychelles and Vanautu - which are all included on a European Commission 'blacklist' of international tax havens - have all received cash handouts from the UK Government. Under a controversial new law introduced by the Prime Minister, Britain is legally obliged to spend 0.7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on foreign aid spending. However, critics of the foreign aid commitment reacted with fury after it was revealed millions are being handed over to countries that set minimal or even zero tax rates. An investigation by the Independent  found that, for example, more than £1.8million of UK cash was given to the paradise Caribbean island of Anguilla in 2013. This is despite the nation - which has an estimated population of less than 15,000 -  charging no income, capital gains or any other form of direct taxes on residents or companies, with it described as a "zero-tax jurisdiction". In total, 13 countr...

Apre tou sa ki mwan John Denis monn fer pour esey amenn en sanzman Sesel, ozordi mon vwar mwan pe ganny ensilte par bann dimoun kin dan sa menm lalit ki mwan. An Septanm 2015 monn kit Sesel pour mwan al a letranze pou fer detrwa keksoz personel ek mon fanmiy. Mon ti fer tou dimoun otour mwan konenn ki mon pou absante pou enpe letan. Ozordi deryer mon ledo zot komans fer rimer lo mon lavi. Zot pe dir ki James Michel in pey mwan en kantite milyon pou mwan kit pei. Eksa kwa ki pli fermal , sa I sorti dan labous bann dimoun dan lopozisyon. Bann menm dimoun ki ler mwan mon tipe ekspoz bann voler dan gouvernman, zot zot tipe maske sa bann voler e protez zot. Mon pros pou bez nonm zot non sa bann karya…. Mon leker I desire ler mon tann tousala akoz mwan zanmen mon deza ganny en sou ek personn. Le 25 out 2014, mon ti ganny aprose par en state security agent kit i dir mwan prezidan I oule war mwan, e dapre li I pou fer mwan vin ris. Mon ti dir li ki mon pa oule...

Opposition parties in the island paradise of the Seychelles have cried foul after the lead challenger to the president in coming elections was arrested over what they say are trumped up charges of molesting a Sri Lankan “houseboy”. Patrick Pillay, a former High Commissioner to Britain who welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to the islands for their honeymoon four years ago, was questioned by police last week and is now waiting to hear whether the Attorney General will charge him. A former minister, in April he announced the birth of a breakaway party from the Parti Lepep, the all-powerful ruling group which has in various incarnations run the country for 36 years. He is accused of bringing a 30-year-old Sri Lankan, Gihan Fernando, to the principal island of Mahe against his will, forcing him to work as a virtual slave between December last year and February this year, and making sexual advances towards him. The “revelations” came just a month before Sey...

The South African Revenue Service (Sars) on Thursday said its officials had seized crystal meth worth more than R16-million at OR Tambo International Airport this week. Sars issued a statement following Wednesday’s seizure of a bag containing 20.6kg of the drug that “had come to South Africa from Abu Dhabi via the Seychelles”. The discovery came after customs officials “stopped two baggage handlers for questioning and decided to search an unaccompanied bag that they had in their possession”. “The officers became suspicious after detecting a strong smell of glue and sent the bag for a scan‚” Sars said. “Customs’ new high-tech baggage scanner revealed an image of a concentrated substance and the bag was then physically searched.” The crystal meth they uncovered was valued at R6.18-million. Sunday saw customs officials discovering more that R10-million worth of crystal meth in a passenger’s baggage after stopping him for a random inspection after he had arrived on a fli...

Today in Seychelles can no longer write about the Damienne Morel murder. Chief Justice Mathilda Twomey who will hear the murder case, issued an order that was served on the editor of the newspaper a few hours ago, prohibiting the newspaper from writing about the court proceedings without the court's order.  The request for a gagging order was made by defence attorney Anthony Juliette. Juliette later tried to intimidate the daughters of late Damienne Morel outside the courtroom. He was talking to his client - Damienne's former husband and father of her two daughters - together with his family members when one of them asked the lawyer not to be too loud for fear the daughters would hear. Juliette then started swearing at them. Among them were four witnesses to the case.   The case was supposed to be heard by judge Burhan and no explanations were given to explain why the case would no longer be heard by the head of criminal division but instead by justice Twomey. ...

(Lanka-e-News -24. Aug.2015 , 11.30) The Financial crimes investigation department (FCID) that is conducting investigations based on a complaint had unearthed a wealth of information regarding the colossal sums of money earned fraudulently via robbery of public funds by the Rajapakse family which have been remitted to Seychelles Island and are with the Seychelles State . It is also revealed that the Bank of Ceylon branch which  was opened in Seychelles some time ago has been used as a center for their money laundering activities. With a view to obtain the relevant files and the details of the account holders  in connection with the complaint , the FCID had submitted a B report  B-663/15 to the Fort magistrate. Investigations had disclosed that there is no valid reasonable ground to open a Bank of Ceylon branch in Seychelles. Yet , from the beginning , when considering the money exchange that took place, a massive  sum in excess had been ...

Robbers target at least three yachts in the Seychelles On 11 August, the counter-piracy Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 conducted a joint operation in the Somali Basin aimed at strengthening international cooperation in preventing piracy and illegal trade in the region. The exercise involved both military and non-military authorities from Pakistan, South Korea, Spain, USA and Japan, who took part in the operation that also extended to the Gulf of Aden and the Gulf of Oman. The operations indicate that, although levels of piracy have reduced in the region since the peak of activity in 2012, the threat remains of real concern on an international level. Two late reports were received this week regarding robberies in the Seychelles. On 21 July at 0300 hrs local time, an unknown number of robbers boarded an anchored sailing yacht, Ceilydh, in Victoria Harbour, Seychelles. The robbers swam to the yacht, boarded and stole personal electronic items, a small amount of cash and t...