Swiss banker spills beans on $2bn Tuna Bond scandal – The Wall Street Journal
The Tuna Bond scandal reads like a novel. There is a Swiss banker who decides to take a bribe so he can start a business and a new life with his Eastern European lover, and there is a long chain of bribes and kickbacks, and it includes the involvement of Mozambique's former finance minister Manuel Chang. Prosecutors believe at least $200m were plundered of the $2bn Mozambique borrowed for maritime projects and coastline protection including efforts to thwart sea piracy. When the government of Mozambique disclosed the debt in 2016, external funding for the country that was once the poorest in the world, dried up as the international banking system stepped away from the scandal. Justice has caught up with Andrew Pearse from the Credit Suisse Group and his lover, Ms Detelina Subeva, but this case has again highlighted how slow African authorities are in prosecuting and going after the Big Fish, and how safe havens in the United Arab Emirates often crop up as places to get travelling documents, register shell companies or to hide for those who have plundered from African countries. South Africa also waited for the United Kingdom and the United States to act on restricting the international dealings of the Guptas and are refusing to hand over Manuel Chang to the Americans, opting instead to extradite him to Mozambique where he could get immunity. Margot Patrick and Matt Wirz of the Wall Street Journal pick up the intriguing story of how a seemingly straight-laced Swiss banker became involved in the scandal and is now spilling the beans. – Linda van Tilburg