The Republic of Mozambique wins multibillion-dollar corruption case in the English High Court against Lebanese shipbuilding group, Privinvest

White & Case Sovereign Focus

Five years since the Republic of Mozambique issued its claim in the English High Court against Privinvest and other participants in one of the largest sovereign corruption scandals of modern memory – the so-called "Tuna Bond" scandal – the Court has handed down its judgment in favour of the Republic.¹ The matter saw in excess of US$2 billion borrowed by special purpose vehicles, on the strength of purported sovereign guarantees. Following the trial in October 2023, the Court's judgment affirms the Republic's case that the debt was procured by bribery and corruption orchestrated by Privinvest.

The English proceedings also involved claims brought by and against various financial institutions which had arranged or invested in the debt. However, the Republic entered into settlement agreements prior to the judgment's hand-down (see below) which removed the need for the Court to determine liability in these claims, significantly de-risking the Republic's position and focusing scrutiny on the Privinvest group whose projects were at the heart of the dispute.

The Court has ordered Privinvest to pay damages to the Republic of nearly US$2 billion (which figure reflects the mitigation of loss achieved by the Republic's conclusion of the settlements and credit for asset recoveries already made).

The Republic was represented in the English litigation by Peters & Peters Solicitors LLP. White & Case acted for the Republic as global coordinating counsel, advising on debt restructuring matters, and successfully representing the Republic in satellite arbitrations brought against it by Privinvest, as well as successfully negotiating critical settlements of claims against the Republic by the financial institutions.

The Court's judgment states, in respect of those settlements: "The settlements that were achieved will have been very challenging to achieve, but the involvement of the legal teams in achieving them deserves respect. With the earlier of the settlements, just as the trial was about to start, existing arrangements over who would lead on which issues at trial had to be reset, but the complete professionalism and deep experience of all legal teams (departing and remaining) enabled this."

Over a decade on from the creation of the corrupt debt, the decision is a significant milestone in the Republic's commitment to promoting sound governance and securing justice for its people – two million of whom are estimated to have been pushed into poverty as a result of the scandal. The decision is also testament to the English courts' competence to hear complex sovereign disputes and to hold those responsible for corruption scandals of this scale to account.

The High Court's judgment is available here: The Republic of Mozambique (acting through its Attorney General) -v- Credit Suisse International and others

_{1 The Republic of Mozambique (acting through its Attorney General) v Credit Suisse International and others [2024] EWHC 1957 (Comm).}

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