US court presented documents of US$10 million transfers from Privinvest subsidiary to Frelimo – DW

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US court presented documents of US$10 million transfers from Privinvest subsidiary to Frelimo – DW

12:47 CAT | 30 Oct 2019

CIP following hidden debts' trial in Brooklyn, New York, USA

Mozambique’s ruling party, the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo), is accused of receiving US$10 million cash in four transfers made between March and July 2014 from a company connected to the ‘hidden debts’ case.

The information was shared on Tuesday (29/10) by Mozambique’s Centre for Public Integrity (CIP) after an agent from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation the previous day presented documents in the New York trial of Jean Boustani, considered the alleged mastermind of the so-called ‘hidden debts’ scheme.

In court, Agent Jonathan Polonitza presented proof of transfers to the Frelimo Central Committee account at the International Bank of Mozambique found by the FBI in emails from Privinvest negotiator Lebanese Jean Boustani, who is accused of corruption.

Presumption of innocence

However, Mozambican lawyer Job Fazenda drew attention to the fact that Boustani’s trial is still in the hearing of deponents stage, and that there are still “missing pieces” in the information provided. According to Fazenda, revealing the account number on the transfer vouchers “would give more details” about the charge.

Fazenda pointed out that Frelimo enjoys the principle of presumption of innocence, saying “the facts that are being listed during the trial are valid only if and when they are proven, they are part of a sentence and after this sentence has become final.”

Fazenda points out that it is not Frelimo who is on trial in the courtroom, but Jean Boustani, who may still provide useful information to the judges on the case.

Still, the party’s image will be affected. “Naturally, information that comes in these conditions will create some discomfort within the party itself and in Mozambican society, without naturally coming to the conclusion whether the information is correct or not.”

Fazenda said he believed that Frelimo “will clarify whether or not this information is true” very soon.

DW tried to obtain a reaction from Frelimo, but its calls went unanswered.

Partido Frelimo recebeu 10 milhões de dólares das dívidas ocultas
O partido FRELIMO foi implicado hoje em tribunal norte-americano como tendo recebido dinheiro das dívidas ocultas.
Leia o texto na íntegrahttps://t.co/GV4L4FncOX

— CIP-Mozambique (@CIPMoz) October 29, 2019

Four transfers

Meanwhile, AIM reported yesterday HERE that “two Mozambican civil society organisations, the Centre for Public Integrity (CIP), and the Budgetary Monitoring Forum (FMO), are covering the trial closely – and their attention was drawn to evidence that some of the loan money went to Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo Party”.

“These payments were included in the financial evidence given by Jonathan Polonitza, an agent of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). There were four transfers to Frelimo, totalling ten million dollars, on 31 March, 29 May, 19 June and 3 July 2014. The money came from an account in the Gulf First Bank Abu Dhabi, held by Logistics International S.A.L. (offshore), which is a subsidiary of Privinvest. The money was transferred via New York,” reads the AIM report.

According to the same source, “these bank transfers are just a few of the many hundreds of documents in the possession of the FBI. One of them, an email from Boustani to Najib Allam, dated 8 April 2014, gives a breakdown of bribe payments to be made to assorted Mozambicans – including Chang, the head of the Security and Intelligence Service (SISE), Gregorio Leao, and the former SISE head of economic intelligence, Antonio do Rosario, who became chairperson of Ematum, Proindicus and MAM.”

The case is U.S. v. Boustani, 18-cr-681, U.S District Court, Eastern District of New York (Brooklyn).

Source: Deutsche Welle