Former head of risk and compliance fined CHF100K over Mozambique's $1.5 billion "Tuna Bond" scandal.

MOZAMBIQUE $1.5 BILLION "TUNA BOND" SCANDAL: 

• The sprawling international case involves the Mozambique government fraudulently obtaining billions of dollars in loans from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB Bank PJSC to fund three dubious maritime projects, including a tuna fishing fleet, shipyards, and anti-piracy boats.
• Involved loans to Mozambican state-owned companies totalling $2 billion. This was intended to strengthen the coastguard and build a tuna fishing fleet; however, hundreds of millions were diverted instead.

Read more here

• https://www.comsuregroup.com/news/94-red-flags-were-missed-in-the-tuna-bonds-825-million-claim/
• https://www.comsuregroup.com/news/former-finance-minister-guilty-of-participating-in-2-billion-fraud-bribery-and-money-laundering-scheme/

ACTIONS TO DATE

• Credit Suisse accepted fines totalling around half a billion US dollars before the US judiciary.
• The FCA fined Credit Suisse $145 million in 2021, part of a $475 million global settlement over its failure to stop the fraud. Credit Suisse also agreed to write off $200 million of debt to Mozambique.
• UBS reached a settlement in a UK civil suit with Mozambique over Credit Suisse’s role in the case as it sought to resolve the numerous lingering disputes that dogged the former bank.
• Meanwhile, the London judge ultimately ruled that Mozambique was defrauded — the government-backed fundraising was plagued by corrupt deals, with hundreds of millions of dollars looted, while much of the debt was kept hidden from bondholders and other lenders.

MARCH 2025

• The Swiss Federal Department of Finance has fined Lara Warner, the former head of risk and compliance at Credit Suisse CHF100,000 ($114,000) for failing to report suspicions of money laundering promptly in connection with the Mozambique financing scandal.
• The accused was aware of the suspicious facts and nevertheless did not make any effort to submit a report to the Money Laundering Reporting Office in Switzerland (MROS), according to the foreign ministry's penal order, which is available to the Keystone-SDA news agency.

ALSO

Ex-Credit Suisse Bankers Banned in UK for Tuna-Bond Scandal Role March 4, 2025  

1. Also, The Financial Conduct Authority banned
   1. Andrew Pearse, who admitted to wire fraud, money laundering and receiving kickbacks worth over $45 million for his role in arranging corrupt loans to Mozambique.
   2. Surjan Singh after he admitted charges of money laundering and accepting $5.7 million in unlawful payments.
2. Steve Smart, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said:-
   1. “There is no place in our markets for those who engage in bribery and corruption,”

US INDICTMENTS

1. Pearse
   1. Is facing as long as 151 months in a US prison for his part in the fraud.
   2. But US prosecutors recommend a reduced sentence due to his “exceptional” cooperation.
   3. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 6.
2. Manuel Chang
   1. Mozambique’s former finance minister was sentenced in January to eight-and-a-half years in prison by a US judge for his role in the fraud.

Source

https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-fintech/ex-cs-manager-fined-chf-100000-for-mozambique-affair/89032619

https://www.cnbcafrica.com/2025/switzerland-fines-former-credit-suisse-executive-over-mozambique-case/

https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/international/ex-cs-manager-fined-100000-francs-for-mozambique-affair-2612872.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ex-credit-suisse-bankers-banned-120520473.html