The protracted legal dispute surrounding the Tuna Bonds scandal has reached a pivotal moment. The High Court of England and Wales has denied Privinvest Companies’ application to appeal a 2 billion U.S. dollar ruling issued last Summer. The Lebanese-Emirati shipbuilding firm sought to challenge the decision favouring Mozambique, contending that the judgment rendered against it was unfair.

On 10 December 2024, Justice Robin Knowles dismissed Privinvest’s application to bring the case before the Court of Appeal, determining that the company’s six grounds for appeal were inadequate. Privinvest’s arguments included claims of abuse of process and exemptions under Mozambican law, as well as issues related to causation, limitation, and quantum.

Privinvest, headquartered in Lebanon, had applied for an appeal on 18 September, contesting a decision handed down in July that awarded Mozambique more than 825 million dollars in damages. This ruling was the culmination of Mozambique’s long-standing legal efforts to hold Privinvest accountable for its role in a corrupt financial scheme known as the Tuna Bonds scandal.

In addition to the damages, the court also awarded an indemnity of approximately 1.5 billion dollars, which Mozambique was liable to pay to various third parties, including banks and bondholders involved in the case.

The scandal fundamentally revolved around loans surpassing 2 billion U.S. dollars that were extended by Credit Suisse, VBS, and other financial institutions to three government-owned companies in Mozambique. These loans were ostensibly intended to fund a large-scale tuna fishing initiative, which included ships, radar, and security equipment valued at 2.1 billion dollars, supplied by Privinvest.

Given the apparent lack of commercial viability of the tuna fishing project, the lenders orchestrated guarantees from the Republic of Mozambique’s government, facilitated by its Finance Minister, Manuel Chang.

To avoid the appearance of default, the banks repeatedly restructured and increased the loans. As significant losses for the banks became unavoidable, Credit Suisse opted to sell a portion of its loans to investors in the US and UK through a bond issuance, without revealing any pertinent background information. This action resulted in Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Limited pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October 2021, leading to fines and penalties totalling 475 million dollars from US and UK regulatory authorities.

Additionally, it was revealed that three senior bankers from Credit Suisse involved in these loans had accepted over 40 million dollars in bribes from Privinvest. In 2019, all three bankers pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud or conspiracy to commit money laundering.