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Mozambique: Eight people charged with Customs corruption
6:06 CAT | 22 Jan 2021
The Mozambican Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) on Thursday announced the arrest of eight people in connection with the theft of 11 million meticais (about 149,000 US dollars, at current exchange rates) from the Mozambican tax authority (AT).
The thefts took place at the Cargo Terminal at Maputo International Airport, and those detained are three AT officers stationed at the cargo terminal and five customs brokers and their assistants. The PGR is charging the eight with corruption, embezzlement and forgery.
To ensure that they were all arrested, the PGR set a trap. It did not inform the eight suspects that it had prepared arrest warrants, and instead invited them to the PGR offices in central Maputo for a face-to-face confrontation with supposed witnesses.
But there were no witnesses and no confrontation. Once they were at the PGR offices, the prosecutors snapped handcuffs on them, and they were driven to police cells to await trial. The eight and their lawyers were powerless, because the PGR had secured a court order for the arrests.
The PGR alleges that the AT customs officers conspired with the brokers and their assistants to deprive the Mozambican state of large sums of money in customs duties.
In all, 12 people are being charged. The remaining four are still at liberty, but arrest warrants have been issued, and the PGR expects that they too will soon be in police custody.
Source: AIM
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