The owner of Emirati-Lebanese shipbuilder, Privinvest, Iskandar Safa, has told London’s High Court that Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi was ultimately responsible for the failure of the projects at the centre of the “tuna bond” scandal.

Mozambique is suing Privinvest and its owner, French shipping tycoon, Iskandar Safa, for allegedly paying millions of dollars in bribes to bankers atCredit Suisse and officials in Mozambique. The lawsuit is valued at $3.1 billion.

The “hidden debt” or tuna bond issue has sparked criminal investigations from Maputo to New York, as well as a string of related litigations in London involving Credit Suisse, Privinvest, Safa, and many other parties.

Safa, in his written witness statement, as he gave evidence by videolink from Paris, said, “Privinvest does not pay bribes, full stop,” and blamed the failure of the projects on Nyusi, whom he said “wanted the projects to fail” to undermine his predecessor, Armando Guebuza’s political authority.

“When President Nyusi replaced former President Guebuza a power struggle ensued between them,” Safa said.

“President Nyusi made deliberate decisions to undermine the projects, and as a result, the republic failed to take the necessary steps to monetize the projects as intended.”

The allegations against Nyusi were centred on payments totalling $11 million that they believe Privinvest paid in 2014 to support Nyusi’s election campaign and that of his Frelimo party, which is currently in power. Privinvest and Safa claimed he should be held responsible for whatever damages they may be required to pay Mozambique if they were found guilty.

In response to Privinvest and Safa’s arguments, Judge Robin Knowles ruled in his verdict last month that Nyusi “has immunity from the jurisdiction of this court while he is head of state of the republic. If the payments were illegal and they were liable to Mozambique, then Nyusi should be liable to them”.

Following a postponement brought on by Mozambique’s last-minute settlement with Credit Suisse’s new owner, UBS, the trial got underway in earnest last week. Mozambique has shifted its attention to Privinvest and is attempting to recover $700 million in losses, as well as $2.4 billion in potential liabilities.