Africa-Press – Mozambique. A criminal investigation judge on Monday legalised the continuing detention of five of seven suspects detained by the Central Office for Combating Organized and Transnational Crime, a unit of the Attorney General’s Office (PGR), within the scope of “Operation Stop Money Laundering”.
The judge released the other two defendants on bail of 500,000 meticais each.
The seven defendants are named in the Notícias report. Abdul Elias, Zumir Hamid Hassan, Sheila Nurdin Giva, Momed Munib and Hassan Gulam are to await trial in prison. Nelson Filipe and Paulino Mungoni have been released on bail.
According to Notícias, the defendants will answer charges of money laundering and criminal association in a scheme that culminated in the illegal export of more than US$330 million (around 21 billion meticais).
The case reportedly involves a total of 40 national and foreign citizens and 15 companies, suspected of money laundering, forgery of documents, tax fraud, abuse of fiscal trust, criminal association and use of false documents.
Notícias adds that the Public Prosecutor’s Office and judicial magistrates report being subjected to pressure to release the detainees and not move forward with the operation, including threats and attempted bribery, but all of these have been rebuffed by the investigators, who remain firm and focused on taking the case through to the end.
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