TCI, Axon Capital accuse IREO Management of $1.5 billion scam
IREO Funds
Mauritius August 28 2018. Dinakar Singh the CEO of Axon Capital, a global investment firm based in New York and co-signatory with Sir Cristopher Hohn, addressed an official letter last Monday to the Mauritian Prime Minister and to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), drawing attention to what they as investors consider as “massive misdoings with investor’s money” from the Mauritius financial centre.
During a media visio-conference held from New York, Wednesday 28th August, Singh told journalists that the correspondence had not yet been acknowledged by the PMO and the FSC, and made a vigorous plea to the local authorities urging them to look into the matter pertaining to what they allege could turn out to be “the most shocking case of fraud and theft ever perpetrated upon global investors” to the detriment of IREO funds based and managed in Mauritius.
Singh and Hohn in their letter to PMO and FSC allege that their interests have and are still being blatantly siphoned and diverted ”by the manager and the leniency of the local directors”. They deplore what they qualify as the ongoing inaction of the relevant authorities in spite of several initiatives which have only resulted in stalling matters – a situation that is continuously depleting their investment. Some months back, based on information provided by a former employee, the investors have filed several criminal complaints against the manager in India.
The matter will be heard on September 9 before the Supreme Court in Delhi. This is confirmed L&L Partners Litigation in a letter dated August 28 stating that the criminal proceedings have been maintained in spite of a writ petition before the Supreme Court.
Singh added that investors have voted by a majority to begin arbitration proceedings to replace the manager in New York, and brought additional arbitration to remove the manager in London. “The Supreme Court of India has recently heard the case, and shocked at the evidence and allegations, demanded diligent investigation. Yet nothing seems to happen in Mauritius,” he said.
“Mauritius is at a crossroads. It must decide whether it is to be an illicit base favoured by shady companies but shunned by reputable global investors, or instead to be a leading global centre of finance, where investors can have confidence in the rule of law to protect them. It cannot be both,” concluded Dinakar Singh and Sir Christopher Hohn in the letter to the PM and FSC.
Dinakar Singh was a partner at Goldman Sachs. In his 14 years there , he ran the firm’s equity proprietary trading business, and served on the firm’s Operating Committee, Partnership Committee, Risk Committee and Asia Management Committee. He serves on the boards of the New York Public Library, where he chairs the Investment Committee, as well as the Yale University Endowment, Columbia University Medical Center, and Rockefeller University.
* Published in print edition on 31 August 2018
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