The management of Mozambique Airlines (LAM) denies accusations of embezzlement, including illegal payments via POS - installed at the sales points - to the personal accounts of members of the airline's management.

In a letter signed by LAM's managing director, João Pó Jorge, and addressed to the Minister of Transport and Communications, Mateus Magala, LAM's management says it is distancing itself from the statements made by the new manager, Fly Modern Ark (FMA), a South African company specializing in aircraft leasing and responsible for making the Mozambican airline profitable.

In addition to the minister, the letter quoted by AIM was also sent to the President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Management and Business Participation (IGEPE), Ana Coanai, including the chairman of the Supervisory Board.

The FMA's accusations were made on Monday (12) at a press conference held by the manager of LAM's Restructuring Project, Sérgio Matos.

At the time, Matos pointed to a series of misdeeds detected by the FMA, including the detour of fuel, which caused LAM losses of around 3.2 million dollars last December alone.

Regarding the POS, the FMA claims to have carried out a lightning operation at 20 LAM ticket sales points, where it collected 81 POS, and was surprised when it detected two POS which, apparently, no one could explain where they came from.

"We reiterate that this information was not previously shared with LAM's general management, which was taken by surprise when the information was published in the media," reads the letter, expressing concern about the impact of the pronouncements on the reputation of the company, its workers, including in the recertification audits and major clients to be carried out later this year.

The board also says that the management of LAM's treasury is the sole responsibility of the FMA, and for all payments made by the company.

"We would like to inform you that LAM always follows the principle of legality, scrupulously observing the principle of the presumption of innocence, in order to guarantee its legal security in all the acts it carries out," the source said.

LAM's top management says it is willing to provide any clarifications the minister may require.