In a decision by the English Court of Appeal, Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi cannot be sued in English courts following allegations of accepting unlawful bribery payments—part of the country’s ongoing “tuna bond” scandal. Not only has this money laundering scheme hurt individuals worldwide, but it also almost led to the collapse of Mozambique’s economy.
The scandalous “tuna bonds” issue took a decade to unfold and involves a failed debt arrangement. As per allegations by the state of Mozambique, Privinvest—a private company—along with other investment banks such as Credit Suisse, is said to have paid over $100 million in bribes to secure official government loans. The contentious point here is the accusation that these bribes led to three government-owned Mozambican companies striking deals with Privinvest and Credit Suisse for loans to the tune of approximately $2 billion in 2013 and 2014. The loans in question were backed with undisclosed and illegal state guarantees and supposedly aimed at developing the local tuna fishing and maritime security sectors. Reuters offers more detail on these events.
Where things took a turn was in 2016 when it was discovered that a sizeable portion of the money had been embezzled owing to pervasive corruption. At the core of the allegations by Privinvest is that President Nyusi received around $11 million in bribes. The thinking is, should Privinvest be found guilty of acting unlawfully, President Nyusi should cover the company and contribute to any damages it’s ordered to pay. The English Court of Appeal, however, dismissed these claims, establishing President Nyusi’s immunity under section 20 of the State Immunity Act 1978.
President Nyusi isn’t the only Mozambican official who’s been embroiled in legal proceedings concerning the scandal. In July 2023, Mozambique’s former Finance Minister Manuel Chang was extradited to the United States to face corruption charges and presently awaits trial in detention. The picture isn’t rosy for Credit Suisse either, which admitted a mistake on the part of its bankers, paid a $185 million fine to the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and forgave a further $200 million owed by the Mozambican state.
This update from the legal world is brought to you courtesy of JURIST – News.