The national authorities have seized various materials as part of their investigation into allegations of corruption at Mozambique Airlines (LAM), the Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC) announced on Tuesday 6 August.
“We have several suspects and some searches and seizures have already been carried out. We’re still in the process of investigating the case, which we can’t yet detail for reasons of judicial secrecy,” said Romualdo Johnam, at a press conference to review the activities of the first half of this year.
According to the Lusa news agency, the case involves an investigation into alleged corruption schemes in the sale of tickets by the national airline and the management of the company’s fleet, which has been under restructuring since April 2023 as part of a plan by Fly Modern Ark, the company hired to recover LAM.
In February, LAM’s restructuring director, Sérgio Matos, denounced a scheme to embezzle money, with losses of 202.2 million meticals (3.2 million dollars), in ticket shops, through automatic payment terminal machines (TPA/POS) that do not belong to the company.
Sérgio Matos
“It’s being sold, but the company isn’t getting all the money. In the last three months of valuations, we saw that the difference was in the region of 126.4 million meticals (two million dollars) and 189.6 million meticals (three million dollars). In December 2023 alone, we had a deficit of 189.6 million meticals (3.2 million dollars),” Sérgio Matos noted at the time, adding that the inspection recorded suspicious cases even in the collection of cash in shops.
The inspection also identified anomalies when it came to fuelling aircraft. “If an aircraft has a maximum fuel capacity of around 80,000 litres (we call it 80 tonnes), the same aircraft is being fuelled at 95 tonnes. So where are the remaining 15 tonnes going?” he asked.
Following the reports of alleged corruption at LAM, the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE), the entity that manages the state-owned business sector in Mozambique, announced that it wants to see the alleged embezzlement and acts of internal sabotage investigated and asked for an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
IGEPE building
In January 2023, the GCCC had already opened case no. 6/11/P/GCCC/2023 to investigate allegations about fleet management, namely the sale of aircraft, their leasing, the company’s indebtedness for the acquisition of new equipment and maintenance operations.
The process also covers the contracting of suppliers, the legitimacy of invoices paid and the sale of the company’s corporate assets.
South African company Fly Modern Ark has been managing LAM since April last year with a restructuring plan underway.
LAM aeroplane
The company’s revitalisation strategy follows years of operational problems related to a reduced fleet and a lack of investment, with a record of some incidents, not fatal, associated by experts with poor aircraft maintenance.
In June this year, LAM’s board of directors chose Américo Muchanga, former president of Aeroportos de Mozambican President, as the company’s chairman.
LAM operates 12 destinations on the domestic market. Regionally, it flies regularly to Johannesburg, Dar es Salaam, Harare, Lusaka and Cape Town, with Lisbon being its only intercontinental destination.
