{"id":3397,"date":"2025-04-01T09:35:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-01T07:35:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/?p=3397"},"modified":"2025-04-01T10:37:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-01T08:37:41","slug":"cimentos-da-beira-bankruptcy-or-the-story-of-a-coup-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/cimentos-da-beira-bankruptcy-or-the-story-of-a-coup-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Cimentos da Beira: Bankruptcy or the story of a coup? (1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

By Luis Nhachote<\/p>\n

Since March 2022 \u2013 for about three years \u2013 a process of appropriation of the Beira Cement
\nFactory (FCB) has been underway in the port city of Beira, through an administrative
\ninsolvency process, with criminal nuances. The evidence suggests that we are facing the
\ntentacles of an intricate web infiltrated from the justice sector to the local commercial sphere.
\nAround November 2021, the Provincial Prosecutor&#39;s Office of Sofala received two reports,
\nthe first being anonymous and the second linked to well-known figures in the business and
\nsocial fabric of the city of Beira, with command coming from an Italian source.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSince December 2024, the Center for Investigative Journalism (CJI) has been following this
\ndelicate case and has delved into its investigation, the contours of which it now shares with
\nthe public so that they can understand the details of a case that seems to require the so-called
\n&quot;independence of the judiciary&quot; to save a hundred workers, penalize and prosecute internal
\nand external actors who appear to have a clear agenda: the appropriation of a relatively new
\nindustrial unit according to a Machiavellian logic, the ends justifies the means.<\/p>\n

An egg of Columbus<\/p>\n

The Public prosecutor (MP), as is known, is the guardian of legality and the owner of
\ncriminal action. In early 2022, it received several reports regarding an alleged unprecedented
\ncrisis at the cement factory. In light of these complaints, some supposedly coming from the
\nworkforce, the MP decided to intervene and requested that the competent courts declare an
\ninsolvency action. This occurred last year, after the original whistleblower had revealed their
\nidentity.
\nHowever, to declare insolvency, it was necessary for the company to be unable to meet its tax
\nand salary obligations, which was clearly not the case for Cimentos da Beira, as it continued
\nto honor its commitments and even deposited a guarantee in court during the ongoing
\nprocess.
\nThe special insolvency action registered under number 25\/TJPS\/SC\/2022 was requested by
\nthe Public Ministry following an &quot;anonymous report,&quot; allegedly submitted by workers of
\nFCB.<\/p>\n

Documents from the &quot;anonymous report&quot; obtained by the CJI revealed that the complainants,
\nwho ultimately were identified as we will see later, told the Attorney General\u2019s Office that
\nthe FCB had a negative balance of 2,000,000,000.00 Mts (two billion meticais) and that the
\nfactory &quot;owes various state institutions and also has debts with the workers.&quot;
\nNotified by the Court to exercise its right to contradict, the company submitted substantial
\ndocumentation and proved its financial situation. The CJI accessed a copy of the dossier sent
\nto the court, and nothing indicated that the company was in a state of insolvency.<\/p>\n

Even so, the provincial prosecutor opted to pursue the claims of the &quot;anonymous report,&quot; and
\nthe Judicial Court of the City of Beira decided to grant it. Neither conducted any investigation
\ninto the entity in question to confirm or deny the reports.
\nWhat is strange is that the cement factory is placed in a straitjacket due to an alleged debt of
\n7,000,000,000.00 Mts (seven million meticais), when it has monthly energy consumption
\nbills exceeding that amount. &quot;It doesn&#39;t make sense for a company that pays energy bills of 10
\nmillion meticais monthly to be subjected to insolvency proceedings due to a debt of 7
\nmillion,&quot; a source in the city of Beira told us, where the CJI was conducting checks in
\nDecember and January.
\nThe &quot;anonymous report&quot; indicated that Cimentos da Beira had a negative capital of two
\nbillion meticais and that it owed several institutions, including the Mozambican state. It
\nfurther stated that the company had accumulated debts with workers, suggesting that it was
\non the brink of bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Act One: Acquittal of the Company<\/p>\n

For lack of grounds, the judicial authorities acquitted the company, according to a ruling
\nissued by Luis Charles, then the judge in the case and currently the president judge of TJPS.
\nWe have in our possession a copy of the mentioned ruling, which summarizes the points
\nmade in it.
\nOn August 11, 2022, five months after the &quot;anonymous report&quot; was accepted by the MP \u2013
\nwhich by law is exempt from paying court fees \u2013 Ant\u00f3nio Mario Rom\u00e3o Charles, a judge of
\nLaw &quot;A,&quot; issued a ruling, where, among other things, he requested CDB to submit the
\nfollowing documents within ten days: accounting statements, balance sheets, accumulated<\/p>\n

profit and loss statements, cash flow reports, a nominal list of creditors, a list of assets, and a
\nlist of administrators. CDB responded to the ruling in a timely manner.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the Decision<\/p>\n

On November 24, 2022, the same judge \u2013 who would later be promoted to the position of
\npresident judge of TJPS \u2013 issued a ruling emphasizing the unnecessary declaration of
\ninsolvency requested by the MP.
\n&quot;In our understanding, unless stated otherwise, the MP, representing the State-
\nAdministration, holder of the control of revenues of the National Treasury, has the legitimacy
\nto request insolvency under the terms of paragraph d) of article… therefore, the exception of
\nactive illegitimacy cannot proceed, in which case it is judged unfounded…&quot;<\/p>\n

Regarding the arguments of the cement factory after exercising the right to contradict and
\npresenting the required documentation, the judge wrote that &quot;it happens that in the opposition
\nand subsequent acts, the defendant submitted evidence that it does not owe the National
\nTreasury, nor has any overdue debts, the validity of which is valid until October 5, 2022, see
\ndocuments on page 214 of the records.&quot;
\nIt was based on the arguments and documents presented in the proceedings that the judge
\ndecided to: a) grant the dilatory exception of inappropriateness for lack of cause of action, b)
\nnot declare the requested insolvency, and consequently: c) acquit the defendant Cimentos da
\nBeira, Lda from the present instance. (The emphasis is the responsibility of CJI).
\nShortly thereafter, a new request for insolvency re-emerged, this time with names and faces,
\nas we will outline in the following article.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Luis Nhachote Since March 2022 \u2013 for about three years \u2013 a process of appropriation of the Beira Cement Factory (FCB) has been underway in the port city of Beira, through an administrative insolvency process, with criminal nuances. The evidence suggests that we are facing the tentacles of an intricate web infiltrated from […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1--250x140.jpeg",150,84,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"large":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1--18x10.jpeg",18,10,true],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1--150x84.jpeg",150,84,true],"retina2x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"retina3x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"retina4x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"retina5x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false],"retina6x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/foto-1-.jpeg",299,168,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Reda\u00e7\u00e3o CJIMOZ","author_link":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/author\/hcuambe\/"},"rttpg_comment":1,"rttpg_category":"Crime Organizado<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"  By Luis Nhachote Since March 2022 \u2013 for about three years \u2013 a process of appropriation of the Beira Cement Factory (FCB) has been underway in the port city of Beira, through an administrative insolvency process, with criminal nuances. The evidence suggests that we are facing the tentacles of an intricate web infiltrated from…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3397"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3401,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3397\/revisions\/3401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}