Ndambi Guebuza, the son of former Mozambican president, Armando Guebuza, has denied his role in a corruption scandal which caused a financial crisis in the country.
Guebuza is standing trial with 19 other defendants at a prison in Maputo. He is accused of receiving bribes of up to $33 million to persuade his father, the President at the time, to approve corrupt projects.
Privinvest, the company which allegedly bribed the younger Guebuza, subsequently received out-sourced state contracts to build ships for fishing and surveillance.
The state companies had received loans from international banks, guaranteed by the state, but these were kept hidden from the country’s legislature. To date $500 million is still unaccounted for.
The fraud was uncovered in 2016, leading to the International Monetary Fund ending support, triggering a financial crisis in the country.
Both Guebuza and Privinvest deny any wrongdoing.
Former Mozambique finance minister, Manuel Chang, is also implicated in the scandal and has been in exile in South Africa since 2018. He is currently being held in a South African prison. A court hearing is to be held later this month to see whether Chang should be extradited to his home country or to the United States, where he is also wanted for his role in the saga. Some have expressed concern that Chang will not face real justice if he is extradited to Mozambique.