Maputo, 05 Nov (AIM) – The Mozambican government has assured that the various court rulings in favour of the State “hidden debts” case have helped to restore the country’s international image and that everything will be done to recover the 1.9 billion US dollars.
The term “hidden debts” refers to the enormous loans, totaling over two billion US dollars, which three fraudulent, state-owned companies run by the security service SISE, namely Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management), obtained from the banks Credit Suise and VTB of Russia.
The loans were only possible because the government of the day, under the then President Armando Guebuza provided state guarantees for the full amount of the loans. The guarantees, signed by Guebuza’s finance minister, Manuel Chang, were illegal since they smashed through the ceiling on loan guarantees set by the 2013 and 2014 budget laws.
Predictably, the three companies could not repay the loans and soon went bankrupt, leaving the Mozambican state liable for the full amount. Thus hidden loans became hidden debts.
According to a government source, cited by the Portuguese News Agency (LUSA), the parties targeted in the legal proceedings in London are the companies belonging to the Privinvest group and the widow of businessman Iskandar Safa, the group’s founder, following his sons’ renunciation of the inheritance.
In the latest ruling in Mozambique’s favour, issued on 21 October, judges at the Court of Appeal of England and Wales rejected the appeal by Clara Martinez Thedy de Safa and upheld the lower court’s decision authorizing her inclusion in the proceedings brought by the Mozambican State following the death, in January 2024, of French-Lebanese businessman Iskandar Safa.
The ruling, which may still be subject to a further appeal in London, allows Mozambique to pursue assets belonging to Iskandar Safa’s estate, in addition to those of the companies in the shipbuilding group, to satisfy the 2024 judgment, which was also in favour of the State.
“These appeals amounted to dilatory tactics. The facts have been established and payment is due. The main judgment is final and binding, consolidating the obligation to compensate the State and demonstrating that the country was the victim of a fraudulent banking scheme”, the source said.
Am/
