GUEBUZA’S SON DETAINED

The Public Prosecutor’s Office on Saturday detained the younger son of former Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, Ndambi Guebuza, in connection with the scandal of the over two billion US dollars’ worth of loans which the fraudulent countries Proindicus, EMATUM (Mozambique Tuna Company), and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management) obtained in 2013 and 2014, with illicit government guarantees.

Ndambi Guebuza became the ninth person detained in this case. He is a close friend and business colleague of Bruno Tandane, who was detained the previous day. The former President’s son also had contacts with Jean Boustani, a senior executive in the Abu Dhabi based company Privinvest, which played a central role in organizing the loans from the banks credit Suisse and VTB of Russia to Proindicus, EMATUM and MAM. Ndambi Guebuza was allegedly influential in presenting Boustani to Mozambican officials. According to the independent daily “O Pais” Ndambi Guebuza accompanied Boustani on visits to France. The fishing boats and speed boats purchased for EMATUM and Proindicus were built in a ship yard in the French port of Cherbourg, owned by Privinvest.

Throughout Saturday the Maputo city court questioned the eight suspects detained on Thursday and Friday. This is in line with Mozambican legislation which states that a detained person should be brought before a magistrate within 48 hours of the detention. The court decided that seven of the eight suspects must remain in preventive detention. These include the most high profile suspects, namely Gregorio Leao, the head of the security and intelligence service (SISE) under Guebuza, Antonio de Rosario the former head of economic intelligence at SISE, who became chairperson of the board of all three fraudulent countries, and Ines Moiane, the former private secretary to President Guebuza.

In just one case, that of Elias Moiane, the nephew of Ines, the court granted provisional release, against payment of bail of one million meticais (about 161,000 US dollars, at current exchange rates).

It had been suggested that Leao, Rosario and other SISE officials should be released under the privileges and limited immunity which the law grants to intelligence officials. But that section of the law only applies to alleged crimes committed during their duties as SISE agents. By keeping them in custody, the court made clear that it considered the financial scandals as completely separate from SISE operations.More information has come to light about Teofilo Nhangumele, one of those who allegedly convinced officals of the value of the loan of 622 million dollars to Proindicus. Initially it had been reported that Nhangumele had no connections with the Mozambican state or government. But sources from the world of sport have now pointed out that he was the deputy general director for administration and finance of the African Games Organizing Committee (COJA), responsible for holding the 2011 All Africa Games in Maputo. The scandalous mismanagement of the games left debts of at least 10 million dollars to various companies.