London bankers in court over $2bn Moz bribe scam

LONDON - At least two former Credit Suisse Group AG bankers will testify for the US at a federal trial this week, describing their roles in what the Justice Department says was a $2 billion kickback scam in Mozambique.

Andrew Pearse, who headed the global financing group in the bank’s London office, will be one of the government’s first witnesses at the trial of Jean Boustani, a former executive at the ship builder Privinvest Group, defence lawyers said in a letter to the court on Monday.

Also implicated in the multi-billion-dollar scam is Manuel Chang, formerly the Finance minister of Mozambique, has been held in South Africa at the request of the US since he was arrested in December. He’s denied wrongdoing.

Boustani, one of eight people originally charged, is the only defendant to go to trial. Neither Allam nor two Mozambican officials accused in the case are in US custody.

Detelina Subeva, who worked for Pearse, will also testify for the US, according to a person with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified.

The three were part of what prosecutors called “a brazen international criminal scheme” that helped one of the world’s poorest countries borrow billions for dubious maritime projects, including one to ward off pirates.

Instead, the government claims, they and others plundered the fund raising, diverting at least $200 million for personal gain. Foreign aid was suspended, and the nation defaulted on its debt in 2017.

Boustani, a Lebanese national, is accused of procuring contracts to sell ships and related equipment to three Mozambican entities while secretly agreeing to pay $50 million in bribes to government officials and $12 million to conspirators at Privinvest.

He faces charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. He denies wrongdoing.

Pearse pleaded guilty to wire fraud this year, admitting he helped arrange bank loans to three companies controlled by the Mozambican government and got millions of dollars in kickbacks from Privinvest. Subeva pleaded guilty to conspiracy to launder funds, as did a third former Credit Suisse banker, Surjan Singh.

When Pearse pleaded guilty, he named Boustani as well as others at the ship builder, including Chief Executive Officer Iskandar Safa and Chief Financial Officer Najib Allam.