The son of Mozambique’s ex-president and 18 others have gone on trial over a corruption scandal that allegedly used three state-owned companies to take on US$2 billion of debt in what has become known as the “hidden debt” affair.

Extensive use of trade-based financial crime is all but ignored by most commentators on the scandal. It involved bank loans and bond issues from Switzerland’s Credit Suisse and Russian bank VTB taken out secretly by the companies, without the required approval of Mozambique’s parliament and backed with hidden government guarantees

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