Ultimately the judicial court has sentenced the son of Mozambique’s ex-president Ndambi Armando Guebuza to 12 years in jail, following years of extensive investigations into corruption scandal in which caused financial havoc and serious negative impact on the economy.
Judge Efigenio Baptista, addressing a packed courtroom in the grounds of a high-security jail in the capital Maputo, handed down the sentences, adding that the financial scandal “aggravated the impoverishment of thousands of Mozambicans. The country became famous for the worst reasons. As high officials of the state they should have been guardians of the state.”
“The crimes committed have brought consequences whose effects will last for generations,” said Judge Efigenio Baptista who found Ndambi Guebuza guilty of embezzlement, money laundering and criminal association, in a scandal which arose after state-owned companies in the impoverished country illicitly borrowed $2billion between 2013 and 2014.
The government masked the loans from parliament and the public. When the “hidden debt” finally surfaced in 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other foreign donors cut off financial support, triggering a sovereign debt default and currency collapse.
An independent audit found $500 million of the loans had been diverted. The money remained unaccounted for.
The “Hidden Debts” scandal also led to the arrest and detention of the former Finance Minister Manuel Chang. He was arrested…
