{"id":19319,"date":"2022-05-11T16:09:29","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report"},"modified":"2022-05-11T16:13:30","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T16:13:30","slug":"taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report","title":{"rendered":"Taipo trial: Prosecution demands maximum sentence \u2013 AIM report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. <\/strong><\/span>The Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office has called for the maximum prison sentences for former Labour Minister Helena Taipo, and ten others accused of stealing 113 million meticais (1.8 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) from the Labour Ministry\u2019s National Directorate of Migrant Labor (DTM) in 2014\/15.<\/p>\n

Presenting its final arguments on Tuesday to the Maputo City Court, the prosecution also demanded that the defendants pay back in full the stolen money.<\/p>\n

The other key defendants include the former National Director of Migrant Labor, Anast\u00e1cia Zitha; the former head of the DTM Finance Sector, Jos\u00e9 Mondlane; and the former Coordinator of Social Reinsertion Projects for Former Miners and their Dependents, Pedro Taimo.<\/p>\n

The prosecution case is that the Labour Ministry and DTM officials involved, and the managers of the private companies with which the DTM forged contracts, formed a group with a plan to appropriate public funds, as well as to harm the former miners and their dependents, by seizing their funds for their own benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of facts\u201d, said the prosecuting attorney, \u201cincluding the failure to comply with procedures, the fraudulent issuing of invoices and receipts, the transfer of sums to private accounts, all with the intention of defrauding the state\u201d.<\/p>\n

The prosecution also stated it was proven, during the two months long trial, that the authorizations of payments made by Helena Taipo opened space for the embezzlement of funds in the DTM, through a scheme in which all the defendants implicated took part.<\/p>\n

In turn, the defence lawyers claimed that the alleged embezzlement had not been proven in court, much less the participation of the former minister in the schemes to forge contracts between the DTM and various private companies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendant Helena Taipo, as minister, acted within her powers, authorizing payments to enable the projects previously programmed in the 2013 Economic and Social Plan\u201d, claimed Taipo\u2019s lawyer.<\/p>\n

The defence also said that the construction of a house in favor of Taipo and her family, in the Muhaivire neighbourhood, in Nampula province, costing five million meticais paid by the DTM, was not proven in court. It challenged the prosecution to indicate the property\u2019s location, the blueprint for building it or other evidence, since Taipo categorically denies having anything to do with it.<\/p>\n

The defence claimed the prosecution had been unable to say exactly how much money was involved in the case, much less the distribution of the amount among the defendants. Furthermore, the lawyers alleged that about 64 million meticais was not diverted from the DTM circuit, since it was advanced to pay the miners\u2019 deferred wages.<\/p>\n

The lawyers for Anast\u00e1cia Zitha, Jos\u00e9 Monjane and Pedro Taimo all claimed that their clients acted within their powers and duties. They did, however, admit that they made some \u201cadministrative mistakes\u201d, without intending to harm the State and much less the miners to whom they provided services.<\/p>\n

As for the defendants from the private companies with whom the DTM forged contracts for the supply of goods and services, namely, Dezheng Cheng, Dalila Lalgy, Hermenegildo Nhatave, Baltazar Mungoi and Alfredo Lucas, their lawyers all claimed they could not be accused of embezzlement, because this crime, as defined in Mozambican law, can only be committed by employees and agents of the State.<\/p>\n

The judge, Ivandra Uamusse, has set 28 July as the date for giving her verdict and sentence.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Mozambique<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office has called for the maximum prison sentences for former Labour Minister Helena Taipo, and ten others accused of stealing 113 million meticais (1.8 million US dollars, at the current exchange rate) from the Labour Ministry\u2019s National Directorate of Migrant Labor (DTM) in 2014\/15. Presenting its final arguments on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":19317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,8,16],"tags":[233,281,283],"class_list":["post-19319","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-mozambique","tag-mozambique"],"yoast_head":"\nTaipo trial: Prosecution demands maximum sentence \u2013 AIM report - Mozambique<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office has called for the maximum prison sentences for former Labour Minister Helena Taipo, and ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Taipo trial: Prosecution demands maximum sentence \u2013 AIM report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office has called for the maximum prison sentences for former Labour Minister Helena Taipo, and ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mozambique\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-11T16:09:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-11T16:13:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/05\/img-627be0931e180.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Taipo trial: Prosecution demands maximum sentence \u2013 AIM report\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-11T16:09:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-11T16:13:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\"},\"wordCount\":578,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/sites\/64\/2022\/05\/img-627be0931e180.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Mozambique\",\"Mozambique\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"community\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mozambique\/all-news\/taipo-trial-prosecution-demands-maximum-sentence-aim-report\",\"name\":\"Taipo trial: Prosecution demands maximum sentence \u2013 AIM report - 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