Maputo, Feb. 26, 2026 (Lusa) - At least four former directors of Mozambique Airlines (LAM), including a former CEO, have been arrested on suspicion of involvement in corruption cases, a source linked to the case told Lusa on Thursday.
According to the same source, the former director-general of the Mozambican flag carrier João Carlos Pó Jorge and the former financial and operational directors and the former head of treasury have been arrested.
The former LAM employees were arrested today as part of a criminal case brought by the Mozambican Central Office for Combating Corruption (GCCC) and are accused of mismanagement, corruption, embezzlement, and abuse of office or function, according to Mozambican media reports.
João Carlos Pó Jorge stepped down in February 2024, having held the position since 2018. His departure came after the company's restructuring director, Sérgio Matos, reported a money embezzlement scheme in the same month, resulting in losses of almost three million euros in ticket sales outlets through automatic payment terminal machines (TPA/POS) that do not belong to the company.
On Tuesday, the GCCC said it has five criminal cases underway regarding irregularities, among other things, in the contracting of services and aircraft leasing at the state-owned company LAM.
“Five criminal cases are underway relating to Linhas Aéreas de Moçambique, each with specific objectives and at different stages of processing,” said the GCCC spokesperson at a press conference in Maputo.
Romualdo Johnam said that some of the cases already have defendants and suspects, including senior managers of the company and other employees in relevant areas of this institution.
Among other anomalies found in the Mozambican company, the GCCC points to irregularities in the sale and purchase of aircraft, the contracting of staff uniforms, catering services, and fuel, among other operations with payments without adequate contractual justification.
According to the LAM spokesperson, the contours and legality of the signing of the memorandum between the foreign entity Fly Modern Ark Airlines South Africa Proprietary and the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (Igepe), in the context of the previous management and restructuring of LAM, also constitute procedural instruments, the leasing of a Boeing 737 aircraft for cargo transport, which “never operated due to lack of licensing,” in addition to the payment of airline tickets and payments made by company employees for translation services at inflated prices or without contracts.
“All these processes, the facts here indicate the practice of crimes of mismanagement, abuse of office or function, embezzlement, and other crimes that may yet come to light in the course of the investigation,” added Johnam.
LAM has been facing operational problems for several years related to a reduced fleet and lack of investment, with some non-fatal incidents reported, which experts attribute to poor aircraft maintenance. The company is currently undergoing a major restructuring.
LN/ADB // ADB.
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