Shah N Kadall – The Forensic Accountant who compelled the Legislature to amend the Law

I thank the Minister of Finance Hon. Pravind Jugnauth for accepting my recommendation on the way capitalisation of interest should be done by banks in Mauritius. The Legislature finally brought clarification to the issue of capitalisation of interest under the Civil Code. Same has been voted in Parliament last week and henceforth borrowers of this country will not be penalized in future.

I want to share my experience fighting the giants banking system in Mauritius. I have already shaken many banks in court with my forensic reports to the benefits of my clients since 2012. Following my first survey on the banking contracts with Senior Attorney at Law Me. Narendra Appa Jala and Lawyer Me. Siv Potayya, I discovered many serious miscalculation of abusive interests. However, many of my colleagues told me that am crazy and banks are right in their action but I did not let down. First, I invested in my personal training on these areas from the Institute of Certified Forensic Accountant Canada and Association of Certified Fraud Examination USA, which were previously foreign to me. Then, I continued the battle against abusive interest charged by banks in Mauritius.

Since then my Forensic Report Opinion is sought regarding bank loan interest calculation, agreements executed between the borrowers and the banks on whether the capitalization of interest done by some banks is in accordance with the provision of the law. This practice of capitalisation of interest is regulated by Article 1154 of our Civil Code which states: ‘The interest accrued on capital may produce interest, by a judicial claim or a special convention, provided that either in the claim or in the convention, the interest owed is at least for a year. ‘

I have accompanied several bank customers who wished to study more closely the compliance of their banking contracts which stipulates that capitalisation of interest will be made on a monthly basis. Several contracts were signed where there were monthly capitalisation of interest clause and today all transaction records are brought to justice. The Constitution of our country guarantees freedom of trade and the equality of all Mauritians in rights and duties, and anyone who exercises trade must respect and fulfill the requirements established by law. Thus, there are now several cases pending for justice before the Supreme Court.The work of forensic and fraud examination is to study the compliance of each file under the regulations, particularly in terms of financial calculation and loan terms, which are very complex: If there is inconsistency, which happens unfortunately, very often the responsibility of the lender who is a professional, can be engaged.

In this battle that is engaged, true replica of David against Goliath, I am not helpless: Banks are not crazy and must continue to make profit. The average time of legal proceedings in Mauritius is 3 to 5 years and may be exceeded where a bank refuses to listen to reason. Banks will negotiate only when the case is completely difficult or when we present them with a very large number of bad faith action or fraud simultaneously. So, yes we are in a culture of balance of power, and we must use every means, while they remain legal, to win “. I have done a press conference through the All Borrowers Association on the issue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TI2M7Tw059M.

To conclude “Nothing is difficult in this world, everything could be understood, one just has to put his logic behind the issue”. I was more confident about the future with the help of god at my side. I will continue the fight on cases pending at the Supreme Court. Once again, I thank the Minister for his great action of national importance that will become a legacy for many generation to come.

Posted by Minority Voice on Sep 5 2016. Filed under Economie, En Direct, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry