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Three arrested in Beira over alleged cyclone Idai scam: 10 meticais pp to go on victims’list | Mozambique
4:30 CAT | 16 Sep 2020
FILE - Idai victims protesting in Beira outside the Sofala Provincial Government on August 28 2020, claiming that they had been listed but now couldn't didn't find their names n the lists of beneficiaries. [File photo: O País]
Mozambican police have detained three men in the city of Beira for allegedly conning between 300 to 500 people into paying 10 meticais in exchange for access to subsidies for victims of Cyclone Idai.
“Three individuals are being held for illicit exercise of the functions of civil servants,” Dércio Chacate, spokesman for the police command in Sofala province, told Lusa yesterday.
The detainees are between 25 and 46 years old and were apprehended between Wednesday and Saturday in possession of identification documents and photocopies.
The suspects reportedly charged 10 meticais (about €0.10) to anyone who wanted to enter onto the beneficiary lists .
According to the authorities, complaints made their way to the provincial governor’s office in Sofala and the National Institute for Social Action (INAS).
“Between 300 to 500 individuals are on these lists [as a result of this alleged scam],” Dércio Chacate said.
Read more: Watch: Why are cyclone Idai victims protesting in Beira, Mozambique?
Mozambique: Idai victims in Beira and Dondo at loggerheads with INAS over 7,500 meticais grant
Cyclone Idai hit central Mozambique in March 2019, causing 603 deaths. The city of Beira, one of the country’s largest, was severely damaged.
The payment of subsidies to victims of Cyclone Idai was suspended on August 19, two days after it commenced, when crowds competing for access to the funds showed disregard for Covid-19 containment measures.
In the district of Beira, 32,000 beneficiaries are registered for the monthly allowance of 2,500 meticais (€29.30).
Read more: Cyclone Idai victims relentlessly pursue promised support in Beira – Photos
Mozambique: Idai victims protest in Beira – Watch
Source: Lusa
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