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MOZAMBIQUE GETS TOUGH ON CORRUPTION: EX-MINISTER GETS 20 YEARS JAIL 27 FEB 2010 BY : DPA
In a test case for Mozambique's fight against corruption, a former government minister in the southern African country was sentenced to 20 years behind bars on Saturday for his role in the embezzlement of millions of dollars of public money. Former transport and communication minister Antonio Munguambe was among five people sentenced by a magistrate's court in Mozambique's capital Maputo to between 2 and 22 years in jail for defrauding the state airport company of around 2 million dollars between 2005 and 2008.
The ex-chief executive of Aeroportos de Mocambique (AdM), Diodino Cambaza, was given 22 years imprisonment after being found guilty of masterminding the fraud. Cambaza bought himself a 1-million-dollar luxury mansion and refurbished his private home and bought cars for family members with company money.
Munguambe, who was transport minister from 2005 to 2008, and three other defendants were found guilty of benefitting from the fraud or being accomplices. Munguambe, who was sacked as minister by President Armando Guebuza in 2008 following deadly riots over fuel prices in Maputo, received a luxury car and money towards his son's studies in South Africa from AdM funds.
The former financial director of AdM, Antenor Pereira, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of buying a luxury mansion with a loan granted to the company. Pereira returned the house during the course of the trial.
Deolinda Matos, CEO of catering company SMS, a subsidiary of AdM, was given a reduced sentence after SMS was found to have been used as a conduit for the stolen funds.
Matos, who faced a 16-year sentence, was given 2 years and 15 days after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.
A former assistant to Munguambe in the transport ministry, Antonio Bulande, was the fifth person convicted in the case. He was sentenced to 2 years in jail for receiving a salary from SMS, where he was on the payroll as a fictitious employee, and for borrowing 15,000 dollars from the company to pay for his wedding.
Handing down sentence in an improvised courtroom housed in a school, Judge Dimas Marroa told the millions of Mozambicans following the proceedings live on television and radio he was making an example of the five. "The justice system will not permit that such crimes go unpunished. This is to show that the money they took belongs to poorest citizen of the country and that such situations will not be tolerated in the future," he said. Marroa said that over the course of the trial he had received death threats.
Chanzo: Mtandao
In a test case for Mozambique's fight against corruption, a former government minister in the southern African country was sentenced to 20 years behind bars on Saturday for his role in the embezzlement of millions of dollars of public money. Former transport and communication minister Antonio Munguambe was among five people sentenced by a magistrate's court in Mozambique's capital Maputo to between 2 and 22 years in jail for defrauding the state airport company of around 2 million dollars between 2005 and 2008.
The ex-chief executive of Aeroportos de Mocambique (AdM), Diodino Cambaza, was given 22 years imprisonment after being found guilty of masterminding the fraud. Cambaza bought himself a 1-million-dollar luxury mansion and refurbished his private home and bought cars for family members with company money.
Munguambe, who was transport minister from 2005 to 2008, and three other defendants were found guilty of benefitting from the fraud or being accomplices. Munguambe, who was sacked as minister by President Armando Guebuza in 2008 following deadly riots over fuel prices in Maputo, received a luxury car and money towards his son's studies in South Africa from AdM funds.
The former financial director of AdM, Antenor Pereira, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of buying a luxury mansion with a loan granted to the company. Pereira returned the house during the course of the trial.
Deolinda Matos, CEO of catering company SMS, a subsidiary of AdM, was given a reduced sentence after SMS was found to have been used as a conduit for the stolen funds.
Matos, who faced a 16-year sentence, was given 2 years and 15 days after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in the case.
A former assistant to Munguambe in the transport ministry, Antonio Bulande, was the fifth person convicted in the case. He was sentenced to 2 years in jail for receiving a salary from SMS, where he was on the payroll as a fictitious employee, and for borrowing 15,000 dollars from the company to pay for his wedding.
Handing down sentence in an improvised courtroom housed in a school, Judge Dimas Marroa told the millions of Mozambicans following the proceedings live on television and radio he was making an example of the five. "The justice system will not permit that such crimes go unpunished. This is to show that the money they took belongs to poorest citizen of the country and that such situations will not be tolerated in the future," he said. Marroa said that over the course of the trial he had received death threats.
Chanzo: Mtandao
