Taipo trial: Who gave you the cheque?, asks judge – AIM report

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Taipo trial: Who gave you the cheque?, asks judge – AIM report

7:20 CAT | 24 Mar 2022

File photo: Domingo

Pedro Taimo, the former coordinator of the miners’ office in the Mozambican Ministry of Labour, on Tuesday admitted to the Maputo City Court that he had received a cheque for 4.4 million meticais (about 69,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate) from the Migrant Labour Directorate (DTM), but could not remember who gave him the cheque.

Taimo is one of 11 people, of whom the most prominent is former Labour Minister Helena Taipo, who are on trial accused of embezzling 113 million meticais from the DTM in 2014-2015.

In May 2014, Taimo received the 4.4 million meticais cheque which was made out to the company “Mulher e Investimentos” (“Women and Investment”), in which his wife, Argentina Taimo, was a shareholder.

He told the judge, Ivandra Uamusse, he could not remember who gave him the cheque, or who in his wife’s company had received the cheque from him. But he was now sure the cheque had been handled by “people of bad faith”, who knew that his name and signature would be on the delivery note, and that it was likely to land him in court.

At the time, however, he did not envisage any problems “since the cheque was not for me”.

“Colleagues in the DTM gave me an envelope to pass on to Mulher e Investimento”, Taimo said. “They wanted a lift because I was driving to Gaza province for work purposes. I never thought this would be a problem”.

But the judge demanded more details. Who had given Taimo the cheque? He claimed all he could remember was it was somebody from the DTM’s Administration and Finance Department. “Your honour, a long time has passed”, he said. “I can’t remember who the person was”.

He was indignant that “after all these years, and now that I no longer work for the state, they’re saying that I made a cheque disappear”.

Asked if he knew anything about a project to buy 50 bicycles for former miners and their families in Nampula province, Taimo did not reply – but said no project could have gone ahead without the knowledge of the Minister.

The trial has now been adjourned, and Helena Taipo herself will be questioned next Tuesday.

Source: AIM