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Mozambique has started legal action against the French-Lebanese billionaire Iskandar Safa, whose shipbuilding is at the heart of a $ 2 billion debt scandal, officials said Friday.
A source from the Attorney General's office, in an e-mailed response to AFP, confirmed "that a case is ongoing" without giving details.
In London, an official of the Commercial Division of the High Court told AFP that the Mozambican government had filed lawsuits against Safa.
The documents were submitted on 31 July and no date has yet been set for the hearing, the source said.
Safa is the CEO of a giant Abu Dhabi-based shipbuilding company, Privinvest, which has signed contracts with state-owned companies in Mozambique for ship supply and national maritime safety.
The government's legal proceedings came after a testimony in a New York court last month by a former Credit Suisse banker, Andrew Pearse.
Safa, he told him, had sent him "millions of dollars in illegal bribes from the proceeds of illegal loans and payments" to get help in obtaining money. A loan from the bank.
Safa denied any wrongdoing.
The scandal originated in loans of $ 2 billion (1.8 billion euros), contracted by the government between 2013 and 2015, to buy a tuna fishing fleet and surveillance vessels.
The government admitted to having borrowed money secretly, forcing international donors to suspend aid.
An independent audit revealed that a quarter of the loans had not been accounted for and that an additional $ 750 million, intended for the purchase of equipment, had been invoice.
"Deny any wrongdoing"
The United States alleges that at least $ 200 million was spent on bribes and kickbacks.
Several people have been arrested in Mozambique and abroad.
Among them was Mozambique's former finance minister, Manuel Chang, who reportedly received $ 12 million for signing debt guarantees.
Chang was arrested in South Africa last year on a US extradition request.
The Mozambican government said on Monday that it would be fighting to extradite it to the United States after the South African government suspended its plans to send the minister back to his country of origin.
When the hidden debt was revealed, Mozambique – which relies on donor badistance and is one of the poorest countries in the world – has been plunged into the worst financial crisis in its history.
The US Department of Justice has accused three former Credit Suisse employees of contributing to the creation of $ 2 billion maritime projects.
They were arrested in London in early January. In May, one of them pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder funds.
In an email response to the comment, Privinvest spokesman on the case of Mozambique, Jeffrey Birnbaum, said that the businessman had done nothing wrong.
"Mr. Safa can not explain why the Government of Mozambique sought to prosecute him personally" until he became aware of the details of the complaint.
"He does not accept that the English court has jurisdiction over him and, in any event, denies any wrongdoing," Birnbaum said.
Birnbaum said that Privinvest honored its contractual commitments and took "extraordinary measures to contribute to the success of the projects in Mozambique", but that the Mozambican entities "have failed to delay the conclusion of these agreements".
Privinvest began legal action against the Mozambican government this year, including "an arbitration to recover the losses and damages resulting from a breach of contract," the spokesman said.
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