The former Prime Minister of Mauritius was released on bail Sunday after being charged with money laundering by the Mauritius Financial Crimes Commission (FCC).

Pravind Jugnauth was arrested along with three other suspects in a raid in which police seized 114 million Mauritius rupees (US$2.5M). The FCC objected to Jugnauth’s release, but the magistrate held that there was sufficiently strong evidence against him to justify his release.

Along with the former PM, “two prominent businesspeople and a deputy mayor” were arrested and charged, according to BBC News. Deputy Mayor Devianee Ramchurn was released on bail on Tuesday, with the FCC not objecting to her release in light of the magistrate’s decision on the former PM’s release.

The other two co-accused are still in detention.

The FCC froze the accused’s passports on Saturday, which should restrict Jugnauth from fleeing the small Indian Ocean island nation.

In November, Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam defeated Jugnauth’s government in an electoral landslide victory. A significant component of PM Ramgoolam’s campaign was promises to rid the country’s institutions of corruption.

Jugnauth has been criticized for the deal he struck with UK PM Kier Starmer in October of 2024, which intends to transfer the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands from the UK to Mauritius in exchange for a 99-year lease to the UK. The current government has stated that it intends to renegotiate the agreement, claiming that the terms agreed to by Jugnauth were unfair. In particular, the current government wants to tie lease payments to inflation and front-load the payments.