Adeela Rawat: “I am apparently suspected without an iota of evidence that i know of”

14 mai 2015

14 mai 2015, 14:53

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14:53

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Touria Prayag

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Adeela Rawat: “I am apparently suspected without an iota of evidence that i know of”

“We are left with no money to even feed our children!” Adeela Rawat says in this exclusive interview published in Weekly last week. She severely criticized the way all this BAI saga was being handled by the authorities. She talked about “a systematic campaign of character assassination” and the “psychological trauma” which her family is facing. Here's the full interview of the first member of the Rawat family to have talked to the press a couple of days before the arrest of her husband, Claudio Feistritzer‬.

■ As you know there have been a lot of very serious allegations against you and your family. The first and perhaps most serious one is money laundering. You have been quiet all this time. Why?
I personally don’t know how I’m supposed to fight this or speak out. I dispute these unfounded allegations and will gladly sit down with any investigative authority to clear my name as I have nothing to hide.

■ Then why don’t you show any evidence you may have to the authorities?
Because, they haven’t asked me. I have been portrayed as a criminal even before listening to my side of the story.

■ What do you mean they haven’t asked you? You have been accused of money laundering.
Yes. I am apparently suspected without an iota of evidence that I know of.

■ The minister of good governance talked about huge amounts of money, billions, being siphoned off to other countries. Are you telling me that you are not aware of that?
Never in my life have I ever come across anything that would show me that. They seem to have investigated and come to conclusions without having heard the other side of the story. Where are the principles of natural justice that require that one be heard first? Where is the presumption of innocence? I have not done anything wrong or unlawful.

■ The company “Klad” keeps coming up. It’s a company that belongs to you and your family. A lot of money belonging to shareholders and policyholders has allegedly been transferred there, to the benefit of your own family.
Allegations again. I’ve never been aware of that.

■ So you know that there is a company called Klad? What can you tell us about this company?
Of course I know Klad. It is a holding company. When I came back to Mauritius, I was making Rs20,000 as my first salary in the group. After 13 years of working in a marketing agency, my salary grew. I got married. I had children. The next thing I knew, I was being accused on the basis of allegations and bullish assertions of matters that I’ve never done in my life. It is devastating to have your picture printed on the front page of the papers and being called and pinpointed as a criminal, without even taking the time to investigate first before accusations are made.

■ That is why I am giving you this opportunity to tell me why I should believe you.

I am not here to say believe me or not. I say that the situation created by the unfounded allegations of money laundering is traumatising and very difficult to accept. We are supposed to live in a country where the rule of law prevails. My husband and I have suffered through a systematic campaign of character assassination.

■ So how are you going to fight back?

It’s very simple; we are going to show that we are innocent and that the allegations are spurious. At the end of the day, we are honest people. If we had really done this, do you think that I would still be here with my children? Do you think that I would still be living here?

■ Maybe you didn’t have time to get out.

This option has never been on our agenda. My husband and I bought property two years ago and we were trying to build a house. Why would I do that if I was trying to get out? If we had been perpetrating all those allegations, we are being wrongly accused of, we wouldn’t still be here.

■ Maybe you didn’t expect that you would get caught.

You are right. How can someone who has a clear conscience and knows she has not done anything wrong imagine “being caught” as you put it? I stress: these are but allegations which have not been proved and tested yet and we are being portrayed as thieves.

■ You were offering policyholders huge returns. That is not sustainable, is it?

That is what the press is saying with an apparent intention to crucify us publicly. I am not a director of the British American Investments (BAI) but I am sure if you talk to people in the insurance sector they can help you understand how insurance is structured.

■ I mean, how can you afford to pay out that much money when your companies were not making any profit?
I am not personally aware of the ins and outs. There are many other businesses in Mauritius that have gone through ups and downs and come out on top. If a company is making a loss one year and a profit next year, is this suspicious to the point that you become overnight an alleged criminal?

■ Nobody is saying you are a criminal yet. You are free, aren’t you?

It is very hard to live what we are living through. My rights and my children’s have been downtrodden. I am free but I am also not free.

■ What do you mean?

Heartlessly placing two children, who are minors, on an objection to departure list is against universal children’s rights and human rights. I can’t understand how mothers are not shocked by this. Why would you put two little kids on an objection to departure list?

■ You haven’t been called to explain anything?

No, I haven’t been asked. We learn about what is going on through the papers. They have accused us and aired allegations, called us names and frozen our bank accounts but no one ever took the time nor had the decency to get in touch with us informing us directly of what is going on. My children didn’t go to school for a week because of security issues… my husband and I are not allowed to withdraw any money for food, school or bills. We are left with no money to even feed our children! And yet, no one up till now has come to me and told me “This is what you have apparently done wrong.” Where are the human rights? Where is the law of the land where from one gathers that until proven guilty by a court of law, the presumption of innocence prevails? You can just wake up and accuse somebody and splash it on the front page of the newspapers and the whole country believes it?

■ But then Roshi Bhadain, the minister of good governance, has shown documents which may prove that there has been embezzlement.

I’d better not comment on his modus operandi. In any case, I have not seen these alleged documents, have you?

■ No, I haven’t to be honest.

Has anyone else seen those documents?

■ He’s been tossing some papers around in press conferences as you know.

I think it’s absolutely sad and disheartening the manner in which the whole issue has been managed.

■ Their priority they say is to secure the money so that they can pay the poor policyholders.

So, the money was there then? Well, if they plan to do that by destroying a group, then I’m not sure how they will secure the money.

■ By selling everything that you own…

Well, I think it’s interesting how the bank which was supposedly not working could be taken over on Thursday and then on Monday reopen and it’s working perfectly fine.

■ Do you trust the justice system in this country?

[Long pause] Yes.

■ You do?

I think that’s the last bastion to remain untouched in a democratic country.

■ Do you trust the police?

Well, they haven’t done anything against me.

■ Where are you going to go from here?

Each day is a new day, a new challenge and we are taking it day by day. I try and stay strong for my kids.

■ How do you do that?

You try and stay true to who you are and you don’t lose what you’ve learned up until this point and you don’t let something like this change you.

■ Surely something like this must be traumatic! From being one of the richest families in Mauritius to not having enough money to pay for your and your children’s basic needs…

It is a psychological trauma. Are you proud to live in a country where this can happen? What if it happened to you?

■ Apart from the legal wrangles, there are also allegations that you were arrogant and obnoxious as an employer. Were you?

I invite you to go and find the people I’ve worked closely with for the last 10 years and interview them. If you want the story, get the real story. That’s what good journalists do.

■ What is the real story Adeela?

It’s not what has been published.

■ What is it, then?

I’ve loved this country since I was a little girl even though I was raised in the States. And I have treated my staff, my colleagues, my bosses – because I had bosses too – with respect.

■ The bosses were all family members, weren’t they?

No, they weren’t. That is falsely put forward, the product of some nasty obscure minds. During my career in marketing, I worked under different people. I learned from them; I was guided by them. I grew as a professional and as a human being because of my experience with them and, if you talked to them, they’d give you a very different picture from the one portrayed. I don’t claim to be perfect but I’m certainly not the horrible human being portrayed deliberately with premeditation through the press. Most of the people that I have worked with have worked with me for about 10 years. Now if I’m such a horrible person, who’s going to stick around for 10 years? I certainly wouldn’t.

■ How do you feel today about these people?

Sad! Jobs being lost, families destroyed…Ten years of hard work, creativity, passion down the drain.