Hidden debts: Prosecution requires seizure of property from defendants – AIM

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Hidden debts: Prosecution requires seizure of property from defendants – AIM

7:09 CAT | 21 Feb 2022

FILE PHOTO - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]

The Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested the provisional seizure of the property of all 19 defendants in the case of the country’s “hidden debts”.

On Thursday, Judge Efigenio Baptista of the Maputo City Court said that the lawyers for the 19 accused will be notified of the prosecution’s request, so that they can react.

“It’s a dispatch of 40 pages and must be delivered to the lawyers of each of the 19”, said Baptista. “As you can imagine, that’s a lot of paper”.

Baptista did not say what kind of property is covered by the prosecution request – but the charge sheet from the Public Prosecutor mentions buildings, vehicles and money in bank accounts as assets illicitly acquired by the defendants.

The source for these assets is believed to be the bribes paid by the Abu Dhabi based Privinvest group. The money for the bribes was skimmed off the loans of over two billion dollars from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia.

The money was lent to three fraudulent, security-linked companies, Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management). The loans were sent, not to the company offices in Maputo, but to Privinvest, which became the sole contractor for the three companies.

Privinvest sent the companies fishing boats, patrol vessels, radar stations and other assets, which were grossly overvalued. The independent audit of the three companies estimated the over-invoicing at more than 700 million dollars, which allowed Privinvest to use hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks.

Right at the start of the trial, last August, the lead prosecuting attorney, Sheila Marrengula, said the state would be seeking compensation from the defendants of nine billion US dollars.

On Thursday, Baptista announced that he is granting the prosecution and the defence seven clear days to prepare their final statements. That period is likely to begin on Monday, after the last witness, former President Armando Guebua, has finished testifying.

Marrengula had asked for 15 days to prepare her closing statement, while the defence lawyers said they would only need 24 hours.

Baptista hit on seven days as a compromise, and warned that he would not extend the period.

Source: AIM