A former Credit Suisse banker Andrew Pearse has confessed to have received at least $45m in kickbacks for arranging loans worth $2bn for maritime projects in Mozambique.
Pearse, while testifying at a federal court in New York, said that the embezzlement was fuelled by his clandestine love affair with a subordinate, Datelina Subeva.
Several Credit Suisse staff were charged with stealing around $200m in loan proceeds from $2bn Mozambican government debt deals.
Prosecutors allege that Mozambican officials and executives of naval contractor Privinvest were part of the collusion.
The petition also claims that Privinvest officials submitted overvalued prices of the equipment and services to arrange the bribes.
In his testimony, Pearse stated that four other Credit Suisse bankers received bribes as part of the conspiracy.
The New Zealander serves as a key witness against Privinvest salesperson Jean Boustani, who is alleged to be the architect of this scheme.
According to BusinessDay daily newspaper in South Africa, the $2bn loan was for three different projects. It includes the building of a shipyard, a tuna fishing fleet and surveillance operation to secure Mozambique’s coastline.
In January this year, Andrew Pearse was arrested in London along with Datelina Subeva and Surjan Singh, another Credit Suisse banker, for being involved with the case.
Subeva and Singh also pleaded guilty in the federal court.
Credit Suisse, however, has refuted any misconduct in the case.
Nonetheless, the scandal will be a further blow to the Credit Suisse’s reputation, which recently conducted an internal investigation on why its former wealth management head, Iqbal Khan, was placed under surveillance by the Swiss bank.
