Maputo, 30 Jul (AIM) – Mozambique’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, has admitted to receiving a seven million dollar bribe from the Abu Dhabi based group, Privinvest, and has agreed to return the money to the Mozambican authorities.
At a joint press conference on Monday, the Attorney-General’s Office (PGR) and the Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed Chang’s change of heart.
Chang is currently on trial in New York, facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud and securities fraud, arising from the gigantic scandal of Mozambique’s “hidden debts”.
Chang was Minister of Finance in 2013-14, when three fraudulent companies run by the Mozambican security service (SISE), Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Assets Management), obtained loans of over two billion US dollars from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia.
The companies only received the loans because the government of the day, under the then President, Armando Guebuza, guaranteed 100 per cent of the money. So, in the event of the companies collapsing, the banks could demand their money from the Mozambican state.
The guarantees were signed by Chang, and they were only forthcoming because Privinvest paid bribes to Mozambican officials, including Chang, and to the Credit Suisse negotiating team. The three Credit Suisse bankers involved, Andrew Pearse, Detelina Subeva and Surjan Singh, have all confessed to receiving bribes from Privinvest.
Privinvest became the sole contractor for Proindicus, Ematum and MAM, and sold the three companies fishing boats and other assets at vastly inflated prices. An independent audit of the three companies estimated the over-invoicing at more than 700 million dollars.
Asked by reporters about Chang’s supposed commitment to repaying the money, the Assistant Attorney-General, Angelo Matusse, cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, said “Yes, we confirm it”, but gave no further details.
The Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amilcar Tivane, was more forthcoming, and said that Mozambique has already received the money returned by Chang.
“All the monies received in the context of the cases associated with these loans have been channeled to the PGR and are under its custody”, he said.
Matusse told the reporters that Mozambique had paid rather more than 80 million dollars in legal costs and lawyers’ fees in London. He said the PGR is fighting for this money also to be returned to the Mozambican public accounts.
That, however, will depend on the outcome of the appeal by Privinvest.
At the hearing in the London High Court on Monday, the judge, Robin Knowles, concluded that “Mozambique is entitled as against Mr Safa (Iskander Safa, the late owner and founder of Privinvest) and the Privinvest companies to payment of USD 825,188,391, and to an indemnity in respect of the payments estimated at USD 1,501,250,000 that it is liable to pay hereafter (USD 95,000,000 under the most recent settlement agreement, and the estimated USD 1,406,250,000 to bondholders)”.
That is a total that Privinvest should pay of over 2.326 billion dollars.
Privinvest has insisted that it never pays bribes, despite the voluminous evidence produced in London, and in the trial in Maputo in 2021-22 of 19 people accused of involvement in the hidden debts.
If Chang has indeed returned the bribe money, Privinvest’s claims of innocence become even more flimsy.
(AIM)
Pf/ (549)
