US names three more suspects in hidden debts case – AIM report

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US names three more suspects in hidden debts case – AIM report

8:32 CAT | 11 Mar 2019

The United States Department of Justice has indicted three more suspects for what it states is “their roles in a 2 billion US dollar fraud and money laundering scheme that victimised investors in the United States and around the world”.

In Mozambique, this is known as the scandal of the “hidden debts” – the illicit government guaranteed loans of over two billion dollars obtained by the security-related companies Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management).

In a press statement published on Thursday, the US Attorney’s Office revealed that it has charged Najib Allam, an executive of the Privinvest family of maritime services companies, and Teofilo Nhangumele and Antonio do Rosario, former Mozambican government officials.

Privinvest is the Abu Dhabi-based company that received the entire two billion dollars of loans from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia. The company was the sole contractor for Proindicus, Ematum and MAM, providing the companies with fishing vessels, speedboats and other assets. However, the US authorities have labelled the project as a fraud and money laundering scheme.

Antonio de Rosario is the former head of economic intelligence at the State Information and Security Service (SISE), who became chairperson of the board of all three fraudulent countries. He and Teofilo Nhangumele are currently in jail in Maputo whilst the Attorney General’s Office (PRG) investigates their role in the crime.

Under the US action, the three are charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy alongside Privinvest executive Jean Boustani, senior bankers Andrew Pearse, Surjan Singh and Detelina Subeva, and former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang. In addition, Boustani, Allam, Chang, do Rosario, Pearse, Singh and Subeva are also charged with securities fraud conspiracy. On top of this, Pearse, Singh and Subeva are charged with conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery and internal controls provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The US authorities are perfectly clear as to what the defendants are alleged to have done, stating that they “orchestrated an immense fraud and bribery scheme that took advantage of the United States financial system, defrauded its investors and adversely impacted the economy of Mozambique, in order to line their own pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars”.

According to the Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski, the defendants are also accused of “a brazen international criminal scheme in which corrupt Mozambique government officials, corporate executives, and investment bankers stole approximately 200 million dollars in loan proceeds that were meant to benefit the people of Mozambique”.

Source: AIM