Sawt Falasteen - How five Boeing 777s linked Madagascar's power elite to Iran

The 57-year-old tycoon is the most prominent defendant in a trial starting Tuesday in Antananarivo over five Boeing 777s routed to Iran via temporary Malagasy registrations to circumvent multiple US sanctions.

The planes, now registered to Iranian carrier Mahan Air, never physically entered Madagascar.

Instead, Malagasy investigators believe their registration allowed them to transit international airspace before reaching Iran in July 2025.

Ravatomanga, currently being held in Mauritius, faces accusations of money laundering and influence peddling in the case. He denies wrongdoing.

According to an indictment obtained by AFP, co-defendant Singh Khushwinder -- suspected of being the true owner of the company used to register the aircraft in Madagascar -- told investigators that Ravatomanga received five million euros from the operation.

His lawyers challenged the claim, citing "several inconsistent versions of the allegations", including a reference to $5 million rather than euros at a Mauritian bail hearing.

The Mauritian anti-corruption watchdog said a joint investigation by the FBI and Mauritius's Financial Crimes Commission had yielded witness statements, digital evidence and recordings to support the corruption allegation.

Originally purchased by Singapore Airlines in the early 2000s, the jets were parked in China after being acquired by Ion Aviation, a Florida-registered company.

All five are now listed as belonging to Mahan Air, according to a database by aviation website Planespotters.

Two were specifically targeted by US Treasury sanctions announced in April, with Washington accusing the Tehran-based airline of involvement in the acquisition and transport of drones and weapons.

- Photo evidence -

Prosecutors have cited photographs allegedly taken during a meeting at the Novotel hotel in Antananarivo which Ravatomanga is said to have attended.

According to Madagascar's anti-corruption unit, participants included then transport minister Valery Ramonjavelo; the head of the country's civil aviation authority, Gervais Damasy; Khushwinder; and Iranian national Hamid Arabnejad.

Arabnejad, identified by US authorities since 2013 as Mahan Air's chief executive, has long been under American sanctions for overseeing "Mahan Air's sanctions evasion efforts and provision of support and services to Iran's IRGC-QF", a reference to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Ravatomanga's legal team says the "alleged photographs" have never been shown to their client and questioned their existence.

Asked by AFP about the images, the FBI declined to comment.

Two sources familiar with the case said several defendants were questioned in Madagascar by visiting FBI agents.

In total, 28 people are being prosecuted, including participants in the Novotel meeting and former Senate president Richard Ravalomanana.

Ravatomanga himself will not be in the dock after he fled to the neighbouring island of Mauritius days before a military coup ousted Rajoelina in October 2025.

- 'Unprecedented detention' -

Starting in 1990 as a transport company, Ravatomanga's Sodiat Group expanded into a sprawling conglomerate spanning automotive distribution, aviation, private security, media, construction, healthcare, real estate, hospitality, tourism and Madagascar's lucrative vanilla trade.

French investigators have previously examined his real-estate holdings near Paris as part of a probe into alleged money laundering and rosewood trafficking, though the case was dropped in 2023 due to insufficient evidence.

A separate French investigation into allegations linked to the export of Madagascar lychees to the European Union has also drawn scrutiny to Ravatomanga, who was questioned in Mauritius this year in connection with the case, a judicial source told AFP.

Ravatomanga's attorney Khushal Lobine argued his client was being treated disproportionately.

"More than a year in pre-trial detention for what would, at worst, amount to white-collar offences is unprecedented in Mauritius," he told AFP.

Mauritian courts have rejected two bail requests, most recently on October 12, citing flight-risk concerns.

Authorities feared Ravatomanga might disappear "like Carlos Ghosn", said one investigator, referring to the fugitive former Renault-Nissan chief.

The comparison was not entirely accidental. The jet used in Ghosn's dramatic escape from Japan to Turkey belonged to TOA, a subsidiary of the Sodiat Group, though it was being operated by Turkish company MNG Jet during the fugitive journey.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST