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O País
As the trial of 24 people accused of defrauding the Mozambican government’s Agricultural Development Fund (FDA) of 170 million meticais (about 2.8 million US dollars at current exchange rates) entered its third day, several of the accused attempted to thrust all the blame onto the shoulders of the former FDA Chairperson, Setina Titosse, and denied any knowledge of the criminal origins of the money that flowed into their bank accounts.
Thus Milda Cossa, the former private assistant to Titosse, told the Maputo City Court on Thursday that 56 million meticais had indeed entered her account – but she stressed that all the money had ended up in the hands of Titosse. Similarly, the 17 million meticais that went into the accounts of her three brothers was also channeled to Titosse.
“When she (Titosse) hired me, she said I had to open an account in the BCI (Commercial and Investment Bank, the second largest commercial bank in the country), because I had to manage her businesses, since she didn’t have time”, said Cossa. “After that, money began to enter my account and she never told me where it came from”.
She denied ever asking for loans from the FDA for any livestock project, thus denying a claim made by Titosse the previous day. “I never submitted any projects because I wasn’t interested in raising livestock”, she said. “So I never sold or purchased livestock”.
As Titosse’s personal assistance, she added, she channeled fund to others, issued cheques and made bank transfers on the instructions of Titosse.
“Some of the money was for her, and other sums went into the accounts of other people, and she gave me their account numbers”, said Cossa. “I didn’t know these people, and I never knew where the money came from”.
She said that Titosse also had “complete control” over the accounts of her brothers, and told them what to do with the money. Cossa claimed that none of the money stayed with her or her brothers. The prosecution, however, says she profited from the fraud to the tune of 6.1 million meticais.
Cossa said she never distrusted Titosse and the transactions she ordered, because it never occurred to her that her boss might be dishonest. “The image she transmitted was that of a person of great respect”, she said.
The former deputy director of the FDA. Neide Xerinda, admitted that she had received payments from some companies that provided services to the FDA. The prosecution says she received “gratifications” (evidently bribes) of 13 million meticais for her role in ensuring that contracts went ahead.
“I confirm that I received some sums”, she told the court. “At no time did I know which company was paying me the gratification, and I only became aware of them in the current trial records”.
“On one of these occasions, the chairperson (Titosse) phoned me and said there was a company that wanted to thank me”, Xerinda said. “I asked her if that wasn’t a problem, and she said it wasn’t. She asked me for my account number and gave it to the company which made the transfer”.
She claimed that only later did she understand that this behaviour violated the Law on Public Probity. “I didn’t know anything about it”, she said. “I never had any intention of defrauding the FDA”.
Money had also flowed into the accounts of Xerinda’s brother, Tomas, and of a company he owns, Obsido Lda. Xerinda claimed that she and her brother had received the money “innocently”. She did not understand why she was now in the dock, facing criminal charges.
Cossa’s husband, Humberto Cossa, who is also Setina Titosse’s cousin, admitted he had received more than 12 millon meticais from the FDA, and had transferred much of this money to Milda’s account.
He claimed he had used some of the money to buy 305 head of cattle, but now not one of them remained in his corral (which was not even registered in his name).
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