GCCC charges former Lam financial manager with abuse of office – Mozambique

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GCCC charges former Lam financial manager with abuse of office – Mozambique

7:57 CAT | 28 Sep 2016

Mozambique’s Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC) announced on Tuesday that it has charged a former Financial Director of Mozambique Airlines (LAM) with abuse of his office.

The GCCC statement does not name the official charged, but the LAM Financial Director at the time of the alleged crimes (2008-2014) was Jeremias Tchamo.

He is accused of ensuring that LAM signed 25 contracts with a building company owned by his brother, who is also a LAM employee. LAM paid this company a total of 5.3 million meticais (about US$190,000, at the exchange rate of the time).

The GCCC also investigated allegations against the then Chief Executive Officer of LAM, Marlene Manave, but declined to charge her with any criminal offence for lack of sufficient evidence.

Items in the media, published in 2014, claimed that Manave had set up a company with her son which was competing with LAM. But the GCCC found that she does not own shares in this company, and there is no LAM contract or decision which involves her son’s company.

It was also claimed that Manave had awarded contracts for organising events to a company owned by her daughter-in-law, but the GCCC could find no evidence for any such contracts.

During these investigations, the GCCC says it also “became aware of some facts concerning the purchase, sale and hire of two Q 400 aircraft, in a case involving LAM and a foreign company”. The summary analysis of this case “raised suspicions as to the use of the sum derived from the sale of the aircraft”.

A criminal investigation into this matter has begun, and the GCCC has requested that the General Inspectorate of Finance carry out an audit of the purchase, sale and hire of the planes.

The Q 400 is manufactured by the Canadian company bombardier Aerospace. LAM took possession of two of these planes in 2008. References to the subsequent sale or hire of these planes presumably refer to the arrangements under which they are flown by the LAM subsidiary, MEX.

Source: AIM