Mozambique sues French-Lebanese billionaire over debt scandal: sources

Mozambique has started legal action against a French-Lebanese billionaire, Iskandar Safa, whose shipbuilding company is at the heart of a USD 2 billion debt scandal, officials said Friday.

A source at the attorney general's office, in an emailed reply to AFP, confirmed "a case is ongoing" without giving details.

In London, an official at the High Court commercial division told AFP the Mozambican government had filed proceedings there against Safa.

The papers were submitted on July 31 and no date has been set yet for the hearing, the source said.

Safa is CEO of a giant Abu-Dhabi based shipbuilding company, Privinvest, which signed contracts with Mozambique state companies to supply ships and national maritime security.

The government's legal moves came after testimony in a New York court last month by a former Credit Suisse banker, Andrew Pearse.

Safa, he said, had wired him "millions of dollars in unlawful kickbacks from loan proceeds and illegal payments" for help in securing loans ..