Jayen Cuttaree has found himself in the middle of a financial scandal, while trying to clear his name. The former minister of Foreign Affairs was suing the attorney general, Rama Valayden, for slander after the latter accused him of having organised his birthday party for free at the Maritim Hotel. Rama Valayden has used Gérard Tyack’s testimony to prove that Jayen Cuttaree was far from being a person “of good character and reputation,” as he said he was.

As he was testifying as a witness for defendant Rama Valayden, Gérard Tyack revealed that he had given money to Jayen Cuttaree from the Air Mauritius secret fund. He also said he did not remember the amount or the date he gave this money to Jayen Cuttaree. But he knows this money was meant for

the newspaper of the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), Le Nouveau Militant. Jayen Cuttaree has denied all the accusations saying he never took any money from the witness.

After lawyer Jacques Panglose finished questioning his client’s witness, Gérard Tyack was cross examined by lawyer Veda Balamoody. The latter made it clear that Gérard Tyack never mentioned the fact that he gave money to Cuttaree in his statement to the Central Investigation Division (CID). “I forgot to tell them that. But this doesn’t mean that I didn’t personally give money to Jayen Cuttaree. In my statement to the Economic Crime Office (ECO), I mentioned the fact I had given that money to Jayen Cuttaree. Maybe when I made my statement to the CID, I didn’t think it was worth mentioning.”

The former director of ECO, Indira Manrakhan, revealed that she had obtained information about the suspicious transaction involving Jayen Cuttaree in the Air Mauritius secret fund scandal. Referring to Gérard Tyack being questioned by the ECO at the time, she believes there are reasonable grounds for an investigation on Jayen Cuttaree.

As for the direct allegations made by Rama Valayden during a press conference to the effect that Jayen Cuttaree had not paid the Maritim Hotel after his birthday celebrated there on 24th June 2001, Jayen Cuttaree denied all of them once again. He made it clear that he had paid a bill for Rs 46 600 on 10th July 2001. The hotel’s financial controller, Ah Van Sin Kwok Wong, confirmed in court that he had been paid by the former minister.