Mozambique: Man killed in N4 hit-and-run
Mozambican PGR says US did not respond to letter rogatory of 2017
7:49 CAT | 07 Jan 2019
In file CoM
Mozambique’s Attorney General’s Office said on Monday that the United States had not replied to a letter rogatory issued in March 2017 concerning the hidden debt scandal which led to charges against former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang.
“Regarding the US, the PGR issued a letter rogatory on March 30, 2017, followed by several additions, the last of which on March 14, 2018, requesting information,” the Mozambican Attorney General said in a statement distributed today.
This note is the first official position of the Mozambican authority since Chang’s arrest on December 29 in South Africa under an international court order issued by the US court in the context of hidden debts.
Mozambique’s ‘hidden debt’ of $ 2.2 billion (€ 1,920 million) accounts for half of the country’s total debt cost, although it accounts for less than 20 per cent of the total in absolute terms and is under investigation by US officials on suspicion of corruption.
The ‘hidden debt’ is the term used to describe the loans made at the beginning of this decade to three public companies: the Mozambican Tuna Company (EMATUM), Mozambique Asset Management (MAM) and ProIndicus, which are under the Ministry of Defence.
The three presented maritime safety projects using Credit Suisse and VTB as their financial partners.
The PGR said it owas only informed of the accusations that the US court imputed on Chang on December 31, through a copy delivered by the US embassy in Maputo, and not in response to the letter rogatory .
The indictment is also addressed to two more Mozambicans, as well as the former finance minister, the statement added.
The PGR also notes that the facts of which the three defendants are accused are related to the debt contracted between 2013 and 2014 by Proindicus, Ematum and MAM with banks Credit Suisse and VTB Capital, using a state guarantee.
“Being aware of the fact that the facts occurred in several foreign jurisdictions, the PGR continues to count on the collaboration of the judicial institutions in the countries concerned, with a view to the accountability of the violators,” reads the note.
The statement by the attorney general also noted that it issued international requests for co-operation to the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom, where a part of the facts described in the process concerning hidden debt was carried out.
The communique states that 18 people, among them civil servants and other citizens, have been officially named suspects [‘arguidos’] over the crimes of abuse of office or function, breach of trust, embezzlement and money laundering, in the context of the case brought by the Mozambican Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“With regard to the facts that occurred in the Mozambican jurisdiction, the PGR continues with the preparatory instruction,” reads the note.
Source: Lusa
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