A former Credit Suisse Group banker who stated guilty of participating in a $ 2 billion money laundering scheme in Mozambique avoided a prison sentence after acting as the government’s main witness in two US trials.
Andrew Pearse was sentenced on Thursday (6) at a federal court in Brooklyn, New York, so he became known as the tuna title scandal, due to his dubious maritime projects, including a fishing fleet. He was sentenced in time already fulfilled, referring to the brief period he was in the custody of the government, and agreed to make payments that total millions of dollars.
“I hope that one day I will be remembered not as the symbol of greedy and immoral bankers, but by telling the truth, and I hope that one day I can make my children be proud of me again,” Nicholas Garaufis said, just before being sentenced.
Pearse, who was compared to a villain of James Bond, Goldfinger, by another federal judge, faced a maximum penalty of more than 12 years in prison for his role in fraud. He stated guilty in 2019 and witnessed that he received $ 45 million in loan -related bribes for Mozambique. Hundreds of millions of dollars were looted from the African nation, contributing to their economic crisis.
The federal prosecutors said that Pearse deserved leniency because their cooperation helped to obtain the conviction last year of Manuel Chang, former Minister of Finance of Mozambique, as well as the declaration of guilt of a Credit Suisse unit in 2021. The Credit Suisse obtained a postponement of three years with the US Justice Department and was ordered to pay more than $ 500 million in global fines and others Penalties, according to prosecutors.
Invaluable help
Prosecutor Jonathan Siegel said in court on Thursday that the decision not to contest extradition to the US from the UK was critical, noting that Chang fought against extradition, while another defendant continues to do so in Lebanon.
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By providing prosecutors a richness of key documents to help them build their case, pear “made a decision and committed to what is right and true,” said Siegel.
Garaufis stated that the sentence “takes into account its criminal conduct”, but also “its substantial cooperation” during the two judgments. The judge said Pearse was removed from one of his children due to his criminal conduct and added that his son might want to reconsider.
“I hope he looks at what his father has done in the last six years to rehabilitate himself and become a stronger and better person,” said Garaufis.
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“Rosetta Pedra” from the government
Prosecutors called the “Rosetta Stone”, saying he helped explain the complex scheme of international fraud to the jury. Chang was convicted in January to 8 and a half years in prison for his involvement in fraud.
During the two trials, in 2019 and last year, Pearse described to the jurors how he helped organize Credit Suisse loans to three Mozambican government ownership and control companies, allowing him and two bank colleagues to pocket millions of dollars in bribes. The bank organized a total of $ 2 billion in loans.
The US trial of 2019 ended with the acquittal of a Privanvest Naval Construction Group, accused of defrauding investors in the title scheme.
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Prosecutors said Pearse agreed to pay $ 2.5 million and confiscar their vineyards in South Africa, an interest in gas fields in Poland that were worth between $ 35 million and $ 40 million at a given time and an interest in an Australian mine valued at about $ 2.3 million and other assets.
Pearse lawyer Lisa Cahill asked her client to be spared from prison, arguing that he “did the right thing” and spent 11 days at the witness bank. She said her client “suffered seriously” for her crimes.
In a letter to Garaufis, Pearse apologized to Credit Suisse and investors, as well as his own family, saying that he worked hard in the hope of regaining the confidence of those who betrayed.
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Suspected projects
In the vast scheme of international fraud, the Mozambican government has fraudulently obtained billions of dollars in loans from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB Bank PJSC to finance three maritime projects, including the tuna fishing fleet, as well as shipyards and piracy boats.
On March 4, the authority of financial conduct imposed prohibitions on Pearse and a second former banker for his roles in organizing corrupt loans.
UBS inherited the process by acquiring the Credit Suisse in 2023 amid a banking crisis.
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