Almost Six Million Meticais Stolen From CEDSIF
Maputo, 22 Dec (AIM) – The Centre for the Development of Information and Financial Systems (CEDSIF), a Mozambican state body supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, has lost over 5.9 million meticais (about 92,000 US dollars, at the current exchange rate), following a corruption scheme supposedly run by four individuals, three of whom were CEDSIF employees.
A statement from the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC) explained that four people were arrested on 7 December “because they are suspected of committing the crimes of corruption, abuse of office, embezzlement, illicit participation in business and use of false documents”.
The statement added that, following an internal inquiry, CEDSIF reported to the GCCC the involvement of three of its employees in a fraud whereby they, in collusion with the owner of a company contracted by the institution, attested to the receipt of equipment, which generated payment of the corresponding amount. However, the goods in question were never supplied.
According to the GCCC, the investigation found that, to achieve their intentions, the defendants fabricated a document, which claimed the equipment had entered the warehouses of CEDSIF. This proved to be entirely false.
The cost to CEDSIF was over 5.92 million meticais – the amount paid to the supplier for goods which did not exist.
The four suspects have been questioned and a judge ordered preventive detention for some of them, and release on bail for the others.
The GCCC noted that, after internal disciplinary proceedings, the three CEDSIF employees were dismissed from the institution in September.
(AIM)
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