Cheapskate Mauritius envoy fined

“His Excellency” Somduth Soborun, the Republic of Mauritius’ Ambassador to the United States, was fined $5,000 yesterday by a judge for paying his housekeeper a measly $1,000 a month for working 12-hour days, six days a week. According to federal prosecutors, stingy Soborun, 61, obtained a visa for a Filipina national, named only as C.V., to come to the US to work as a housekeeper at his $1.2 million house in Englewood, NJ, from December 2008 to August 2009. US Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statement, “C.V. worked in the Soborun household by cleaning, doing laundry, ironing, and taking care of the family dog, usually for 12 hours per day, six days per week. Although Soborun signed a contract that provided for an hourly wage as well as for overtime pay for any hours exceeding 40 per week, Soborun only paid C.V. $1,000 per month, regardless of how many hours she worked each month.” A spokesman for Fishman’s office tells Page Six law enforcement and the FBI were alerted to C.V.’s working and pay conditions and began investigating after she filed an immigration petition. As part of a plea deal, Soborun admitted failing to pay the minimum wage rate and yesterday Judge Patty Shwartz imposed the fine in Newark federal court. Soborun, who throws regular swanky ambassador’s receptions at his home, also agreed to make a $24,153 restitution payment to C.V. The spokesman added that Soborun, who now lives in Washington, DC, would be allowed to keep his prestigious ambassador job — believed to pay between $110,000 and $200,000 — and will remain in the US as part of the deal. The Embassy of Mauritius did not return calls, and the ambassador’s lawyer Nicholas R. Doria didn’t get back to us last night.