Mozambique can enforce US$1.9 billion Tuna Bonds ruling on Privinvest founder’s widow

The widow of the late Lebanese-French shipbuilding magnate Iskandar Safa has failed in her attempt to block Mozambique from pursuing her for her late husband’s liabilities arising from the landmark London High Court judgment in the “Tuna Bonds” (or “hidden debts”) scandal.

On 21 October 2026, the Court of Appeal of England and Wales refused her appeal, confirming that the Republic of Mozambique can seek to enforce the approximately US$1.9 billion damages award against her as Safa’s heir.

Clara Martinez Thedy de Safa had argued that any claim against her belonged in the Lebanese courts because of complex issues of Lebanese inheritance law, that she had no involvement in the underlying wrongdoing, and that English courts lacked jurisdiction to determine succession and liability questions that properly fell to Lebanon.

The High Court had joined her (and Safa’s sons) as defendants in June 2025. Mozambique’s lawyers maintained that the English courts, which had managed the long-running litigation and already determined the facts of bribery and liability, were best placed to complete the process. The sons had previously disclaimed their inheritance (a step confirmed by a Lebanese court), and Mozambique accepted that their appeals should succeed; the focus remained on the widow.

Under Lebanese law (the law of Safa’s domicile), the deceased’s legal personality ceases upon death, and the deceased's assets and liabilities pass directly to the heirs. Heirs are personally liable for the deceased’s debts, but only up to the value of the assets they actually inherit; they may also renounce the inheritance. The English courts accepted expert evidence on these principles and held that joining the heirs allowed the court to finish its work rather than leave the July 2024 findings without practical effect.

Context of the scandal

Between 2013 and 2014, three Mozambican state-owned companies (Proindicus, EMATUM and Mozambique Asset Management) borrowed roughly US$2 billion through loans arranged primarily by Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB, backed by undisclosed sovereign guarantees signed by then-Finance Minister Manuel Chang.

The stated purpose was a tuna-fishing fleet, maritime security infrastructure and a shipyard; the sole contractor was the Privinvest group, controlled by Iskandar Safa.

Large sums were diverted in bribes and kickbacks (US authorities later estimated at least US$200 million). The projects largely failed: boats rusted and substantial funds went missing. When the hidden debts emerged in 2016, the IMF and donors suspended support, the metical collapsed, and Mozambique defaulted, triggering a severe economic crisis.

In July 2024 Mr Justice Robin Knowles found in the Commercial Court that Safa and Privinvest had paid bribes (at least US$7 million) to Chang to secure the guarantees. The court awarded Mozambique just over US$825 million in damages, plus an indemnity for up to US$1.5 billion in remaining liabilities to lenders and bondholders (net figures of around US$1.9 billion after credits for amounts already recovered).

The judge described Mozambique as having been “hustled to buy what it couldn’t use properly and didn’t need and wasn’t prepared for.”

Safa died in January 2024, after the trial but before judgment; the court therefore stated what the outcome against him would have been.

Privinvest’s own appeal against the main judgment was struck out in May 2026 after the company failed to meet security-for-costs conditions imposed by the Court of Appeal, rendering the 2024 judgment final against the corporate defendants. Chang was later convicted in a US criminal case and sentenced to 8½ years’ imprisonment.

Conclusion

The latest ruling clears a significant procedural hurdle for Mozambique’s efforts to recover value from Safa’s estate via his widow.

Actual enforcement will still depend on the location and value of assets, the limits of Lebanese succession law, and further proceedings. The case remains a leading illustration of the practical difficulties sovereigns face in recovering damages from cross-border corruption involving international banks, contractors and high-net-worth individuals.

Sources

• Law360: Mozambique Can Pursue Safa Widow In ‘Tuna Bonds’ Case (21 October 2026) – https://www.law360.com/articles/2540583/mozambique-can-pursue-safa-widow-in-tuna-bonds-case

• UK Case Tracker (CA-2025-001643): appeal refused 21 October 2026 – https://casetracker.justice.gov.uk/getDetail.do?case_id=CA-2025-001643

• High Court judgment (16 June 2025) [2025] EWHC 1481 (Comm) – https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewhc/comm/2025/1481

• Club of Mozambique (reporting on the July 2026 Court of Appeal hearing) – https://clubofmozambique.com/news/london-appeal-court-hears-safa-widows-bid-to-leave-mozambiques-hidden-debts-case/

• Peters & Peters (Privinvest appeal struck out, May 2026) – https://www.petersandpeters.com/2026/05/13/tuna-bonds-appeal-successfully-struck-out/

• Reuters (July 2024 High Court judgment) – https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/mozambique-substantially-wins-uk-lawsuit-against-shipbuilder-privinvest-over-2024-07-29/

• Financial Times coverage of the main judgment and subsequent developments – https://www.ft.com/content/61a03db1-dbf6-4b04-b550-58a4981c7e00 and https://www.ft.com/content/25356996-9adc-4791-85c4-d5a1b3763513

• Wikipedia summary of the Tuna Bonds scandal – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuna_bonds

• Spotlight on Corruption analysis – https://www.spotlightcorruption.org/mozambique-court-corrupt-tuna-bonds/ and https://www.spotlightcorruption.org/cases/mozambique-tuna-bond-scandal/

• OCCRP on Chang’s US sentence – https://www.occrp.org/en/news/ex-mozambique-finance-minister-sentenced-in-2b-tuna-bonds-fraud-scheme

Full original sources are provided above for independent verification. The Court of Appeal’s detailed reasons (if published) and any further enforcement steps should be checked on the judiciary or BAILII sites as they become available.