The scandal about the billions granted to companies in the southern African nation knows no end: Iskandar Safa, one of the businessmen behind Privinvest Group, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, accused a former Credit Suisse banker of having lied in his testimony to a New York court last month, according to a report by «Bloomberg».

Andrew Pearse, an ex-managing director at Credit Suisse, in July pleaded guilty of having accepted kickbacks. Privinvest staff «wired me millions of dollars in unlawful kickbacks from loan proceeds and illegal payments for my assistance in securing loans by Credit Suisse,» Pearse had admitted in court. The money granted to the companies in Mozambique was intended for a tuna-fishing fleet, patrol boats and a shipyard.

Second to Plead Guilty

The accusations levelled at Privinvest were false, according to a statement released by the spokesman for Safa, «Bloomberg» reported on Thursday. Safa also claims that Pearse wasn't as influential for the deal as he claimed.

Pearse was the second ex-Credit Suisse banker to plead guilty. Detelina Subeva, also an ex-manager of the Swiss bank, in May admitted having received $200,000 for laundering kickbacks.