NZer implicated in Mozambique scam

WELLINGTON: A New Zealand man with links to Christchurch is being portrayed as a key player in a multibilliondollar scandal enveloping the African nation of Mozambique.

Andrew Pearse is a Londonbased former Credit Suisse banker who is one of about 20 people charged in connection with the fraud, which has also implicated the country’s former finance minister.

Mr Pearse (49) has previously owned two properties in Christchurch, both of which were last sold on the same day in 2013, the year the alleged fraud began.

The properties are now owned by a company whose title matches his initials — AJP Trustee Services — and another individual.

Mr Pearse and his associates are accused of skimming at least $US200 million

($NZ296 million) from secret $2 billion loans, purportedly made to fund dubious maritime projects in Mozambique.

The $US45 million paid to Mr Pearse is the largest sum received by any of the individuals named in the indictment.

Speaking from Maputo, Jorge Matine from Mozambican financial watchdog, the Budget Monitoring Forum, said United States prosecutors appeared to be alleging Mr Pearse was one of the ringleaders of the scam.

‘‘He’s one of the masterminds of this scheme [of] corruption and illegal debt.

‘‘The financial institutions and the bankers are not accountable so they can even create schemes that can destroy an economy and put people in a very difficult situation — a country in a very difficult situation.’’

Mr Matine was among those celebrating after US prosecutors filed their indictment.

‘‘I was in a local pub and people started cheering and clapping. [People were saying], ‘We’ve been fighting for five years. I don’t have a job, I had to close down my company because of this. There’s no business around’.

‘‘So I’m very happy that now is a new beginning.’’

According to the indictment filed in New York’s Eastern District Court, the loans were given by two Londonbased banks — Credit Suisse and VTB — to three stateowned companies in Mozambique.

The loans were guaranteed by the country’s government, but never signed off by the parliament.

The indictment says the money was never transferred to Mozambique but to Privinvest in Abu Dhabi.

From there, kickbacks and bribes were allegedly paid to officials in Mozambique, executives from Privinvest, and the Londonbased bankers.

Earlier yesterday, Mozambique’s Attorney General Office announced it had indicted 18 citizens in connection with the fraud, including the country’s former finance minister, Manuel Chang, who was arrested in South Africa last week.

Mozambique, one of the most indebted countries in the world, admitted in 2016 undisclosed lending, prompting the International Monetary Fund and foreign donors to cut off support and triggering a currency collapse and a default on its sovereign debt. — RNZ