The trial in the case of Mozambique's "hidden debts" is due to begin today, Tuesday, with opening arguments, after a delay due to issues raised yesterday, Monday by various parties involved.

Yesterday, Credit Suisse criticized the legal team representing Mozambique's Attorney General's Office (PGR) for continuing to implicate the Swiss bank in a conspiracy to corrupt senior Mozambican public officials, despite having reached an agreement two weeks ago to drop all allegations.

The agreement, reached with the UBS group, owner of Credit Suisse, stipulates, according to the PGR, that "the parties are mutually released from any responsibilities and claims related to the transactions, including the extinction of the total amount of debt that Credit Suisse claimed from Mozambique".

However, Credit Suisse remains potentially liable if it is proven that Privinvest bribed the bank's three former employees, Andrew Pearse, Surjan Singh and Detelina Subeva, to facilitate the illicit loans granted to Mozambican state companies.

According to Lusa, lawyer Laurence Rabinowitz argued that by "continuing with the current allegations, [Mozambique] will help Privinvest" to implicate Credit Suisse, suggesting that it stop mentioning the bank in its allegations against Privinvest.

"We're not suggesting that they should drop allegations, but it all depends on how they proceed," he said.

The OPG's lawyer, Joe Smouha, said that the agreement is clear in the sense that Mozambique's allegations against Privinvest and the owner, Iskandar Safa, continue, even if Credit Suisse becomes subject to Privinvest's allegations.

Mozambique "will try to prove that Credit Suisse and the Credit Suisse negotiating team were involved in the conspiracy" to bribe, he admitted, but stressed that "the allegations are against Mr. Safa and Privinvest".

In the end, Judge Robin Knowles ruled that the lawyers representing Mozambique's PGR must specify the "material facts" of their allegations in their opening arguments, now scheduled for Tuesday, refusing to further delay the start of the trial, which was due to begin on October 2.

The case of the "hidden debts" dates back to 2013 and 2014, when then Finance Minister Manuel Chang approved, in absentia, loans from three Mozambican state-owned companies (Proinducus, Ematus and MAM) to the banks Credit Suisse and VTB to finance the purchase of tuna fishing boats and maritime safety equipment supplied by the shipping group Privinvest.

Discovered in 2016, the debts were estimated at around two billion dollars, leading to lawsuits in the United States and Mozambique.