The Central Anti-Corruption Directorate (CAC) announced on Tuesday the opening of three criminal proceedings against five employees of the Ministry of Defense accused of embezzling 52 million hardware (746 thousand euros).
“To complete the crimes, the agents transferred valuables to several companies that allegedly had been awarded a contract to purchase goods and provide services to the state, without fulfilling the terms of the tender announcement and without awarding the contract,” said GCCC spokesman Romualdo Jonam at a press conference to review the activities in the first half of this year in Maputo.
These are “senior employees” who are associated with the administrative and financial departments, a GCCC spokesman explained, adding that the process is under investigation and no arrests have been made yet.
According to authorities, the defendants claimed that the illegal shipments were carried out in cases of “military emergency and urgency.”
“Equally, [os indiciados] “They began to pay large sums of cash to purchase goods for personal gain, displaying outward signs of wealth that did not correspond to their legitimate income,” concluded Romualdo Honam.