Swiss federal prosecutor receives Credit Suisse papers on Mozambique scandal

The Mozambique scandal concerns loans to Mozambique arranged by Credit Suisse a decade ago, which were taken out without the knowledge of the local parliament and the International Monetary Fund. Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has received documents from former Credit Suisse companies relating to the Mozambique debt scandal. The Appeals Chamber has rejected an appeal by the financial institutions taken over by UBS.

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In September 2023, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) opened proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of money laundering in connection with the Mozambique scandal. The case concerns omissions or actions by unknown employees of the Credit Suisse Group.

The starting point is a payment of $7.86 million (CHF9.06 million) into a company account at one of the Credit Suisse companies. This is the result of a decision published on Wednesday by the Appeals Chamber of the Federal Criminal Court.

The money of allegedly criminal origin is said to have been paid to the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mozambique. The circumstances surrounding the subsequent closure of the account are also being investigated. This took place without a suspicious activity report being submitted to the Money Laundering Reporting Office.

No business secrets

The OAG refused to seal the documents requested by Credit Suisse. The Board of Appeal confirmed that there was no valid reason for this. It does not accept the bank’s argument of commercial secrets.

It writes that banks are obliged to keep the requested information available to support the judiciary in the prosecution of money laundering offenses.

The Mozambique scandal concerns loans to Mozambique arranged by Credit Suisse a decade ago, which were taken out without the knowledge of the local parliament and the International Monetary Fund. The money was intended to pay for the construction of a tuna fishing fleet, for example. In the process, bribes were paid on a large scale.

Last year, UBS reached an out-of-court settlement in the legal dispute between the acquired Credit Suisse and the state of Mozambique.

Translated from German by DeepL/jdp

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