Ali Zahir settles MVR 2.3 million debt; MCB withdraws case
The case arose from a transaction on February 8, 2016, involving a third party, Abdullah Naseer Mohamed.
The Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) has withdrawn its case against Ali Zahir, former Chief of Staff at the President’s Office, after he settled a debt of MVR 2.3 million in full.
The case arose from a transaction on February 8, 2016, involving a third party, Abdullah Naseer Mohamed. According to case records, Naseer presented Zahir with a deposit slip indicating that a cheque of MVR 4.12 million had been deposited into Zahir’s account at MCB. Based on this, Zahir issued a cheque of MVR 2.3 million from his personal account to Naseer.
The cheque of MVR 4.12 million was not cleared and was not credited to Zahir’s account. Despite this, the bank processed the MVR 2.3 million cheque issued by Zahir, resulting in an overdraft and a dispute over repayment.
MCB maintained that a cheque constitutes a legal instruction to release funds and that the account holder is responsible for the amount. On June 18, 2018, the bank notified Zahir to repay the sum within ten days.
Zahir filed a case seeking to invalidate the bank’s demand. The Civil Court, High Court and Supreme Court ruled in favour of the bank, confirming Zahir’s liability.
Following non-payment, MCB filed a case at the Civil Court on November 18, 2024, seeking recovery of the MVR 2.3 million principal and MVR 50,000 in legal costs.
The Civil Court dismissed the case on Monday at the request of MCB. The court noted that during negotiations for an out-of-court settlement, Zahir had paid the full amount in a lump sum.
MCB informed the court that it would not pursue the MVR 50,000 in legal costs. The court ruled that Zahir has no further financial obligations in relation to the matter and invalidated the case.
