Mozambique: Five criminal cases opened over alleged irregularities at LAM

Mozambique’s Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC) currently has five ongoing criminal cases concerning irregularities associated, among other matters, with the contracting of services and aircraft leasing at the state-owned airline LAM, it was announced this Tuesday. “Five criminal cases are currently underway relating to Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique (LAM), each with specific objectives and at different stages of processing,” said GCCC spokesperson Romualdo Johnam at a press conference in Maputo. LAM has faced operational problems for several years, related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment, with a record of some non-fatal incidents that experts attribute to deficient aircraft maintenance.

The company is currently undergoing a deep restructuring process. Among the irregularities identified at the Mozambican airline, the GCCC highlights issues in the sale and purchase of aircraft, procurement of staff uniforms, catering services, and fuel, among other operations involving payments without proper contractual justification. Legal instruments under investigation, according to Romualdo Johnam, also include the circumstances and legality of a memorandum signed between the foreign entity Fly Modern Ark Airlines South Africa Proprietary and the Institute for the Management of State Holdings IGEPE) — in the context of LAM’s previous management and restructuring — the lease of a Boeing 737 for cargo transport, which “never operated due to lack of licensing,” as well as the payment of airline tickets and payments made by company employees for translation services at inflated prices or without contracts.

“All these cases involve facts that indicate the possible commission of crimes such as mismanagement, abuse of office, embezzlement, and other offences that may emerge during the course of the investigation,” he added. According to Romualdo Johnam, some of the cases already have formally named defendants and suspects, including senior managers and other key employees of the company. On 15 December, Mozambican authorities reported that at least 30 people had been arrested in connection with alleged corruption schemes at the Tax Authority and the Mozambican Treasury. “In the Tax Authority case, around 30 people are involved, including both employees and private citizens,” said the director of the Central Office for Combating Organised and Transnational Crime, Amélia Machava, on the sidelines of the national meeting of the Central Office for Asset Recovery (GCRA).