Seychelles: The Hongkies or the Mafioso (Part 1)

In 1996, I made a stint to the Seychelles Island flying from Singapore via the Air Seychelles. Living in Malaysia after I left my country Mauritius, I decided to re-visit the Seychelles in  a bid to get an insight of what was happening in the state. This time, it was the Hongkies who were making the headlines in the Seychelles newspapers and for the wrong reason.

Visiting the Seychelles Nation newspaper, I was told that the citizens of Hong Kong were investing large sums of money in the country's financial sector and with these investments they were given the opportunity to buy the Seychelles Passport - a very prized item on the International market - and become de-facto Seychellois. Unfortunately, I did not follow up the story to Hong Kong where obviously the news item would have been 'kaboum'.

A Seychellois is a citizen of Seychelles and the Hongies are obviously the Hong Kong businessmen investing in the Seychelles and buying up high end properties in Victoria where they established their 'new homes'. The report I was writing was for the famous British newsletter - one of the most expensive publication at that time - entitled 'Africa Confidential'.

As a practice, it is not allowed to mention Africa Confidential in any stories the contributors to the newsletter write. Hence it is practically 'haram' for me to state that i wrote a piece on Hongkies for Africa Confidential. Nevertheless, I am now away from the days of writing 'confidential' reports and today being a blogger-online-editor I have the right to reveal, in what may become my 'memoirs' as a Journalist; what stories I did for which publications in order to make a name - that is fame if one want it - and money.

Incredibly enough, today I read a piece of 'confidential' information revealed by an opponent to the Seychellois regime in Victoria, Mahe. The story written by Christopher Gill, son of the former Prime Minister of Seychelles James Mancham.

Gill wrote in Seychellesweekly.com that in 1997, when Hong Kong was reverting back to Communist China, the Ministry of Finance set up a trade office in Hong Kong to organize citizenship status sales to Hong Kong residents who were in fear of a mainland China communist takeover.

At the time of my visit to the Seychelles in 1996, I stayed for a few days and met only a few people who did not pass this information to me. I would have been a bit more richer in 1996 if I had such a piece of info. I would have worked my way to the Seychelles Ministry of Finance and would have knocked the doors of Hongkies to confirm the facts. That would probably have aroused the Ministry of Information in Victoria and a Jeep would have been sent to pick me up for a direct interrogation by the Minister of Information himself.

But since I was thinking of something very important to me personally at that time I was rather sloppy and I wrapped up my report of Hongkies buying land in Victoria and investing Mahe in the tourism sector and flew back to Singapore, filed my report to Africa Confidential and the rest became history. As a matter of fact, I am now able to state that the scheme to sell Seychelles Passports to Hongkies started in 1996 itself and I remember that I was even told by an Editor in the Seychelles to visit Hong Kong where I would get more 'confidential' news.

In the Seychellesweekly.com, Gill made the stunning allegations: 'Countless businessmen came to Seychelles and bought passports from KUMAR DE, an Indian consultant in the Ministry of Finance at the time who worked directly under James Alix Michel.  The program to sell passports to these fake Seychellois (Seselwa Fabrike) was alleged to have been organized by Michel himself, as he was Kumar De’s superior officer. Numerous allegations had been made in the press at that time, and Michel never responded to them. Silence is admission.

'Kumar De allegedly collected more than $3 Million Dollars from the passport selling scheme at US$ 10,000 to US$ 50,000.00 per passport.  But Kumar De outsmarted Michel (quite easy to do) and one fine morning, he simply parked his Government Honda Civic at the Stadium Car Park, and just bought a one way airline ticket to India. Kumar De departed our shores with most of the money collected from the sale of passports to residents of Hong Kong who had taken a “nationality insurance” against Communist China taking over the island colony.'

'The Government of Seychelles never filed any charges against Kumar De. No explanation has ever been given and no extradition papers were ever filed with the local Indian Embassy or India.  Numerous residents of Hong Kong at the time became citizens of Seychelles. One of them had bought a significant interest in Victoria House, the prime office space before State House.'

This piece of news have triggered the investigator in me and it is improbable that my next trip to the Seychelles will be very soon to dig more on how to get the famous Seychelles passport and how much it cost! Gill alleges that now even Arabs maybe holding Seychelles passports. I wonder how the Mossad and the CIA, FBI and M15 or Scotland Yard have missed such an important info in the current war against Islam.

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