The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Republic of Mozambique can pursue the widow of the late Privinvest founder Iskandar Safa in England, a significant victory in the state's effort to enforce the 1.9 billion dollar judgment it won over the tuna bonds scandal.
Lord Justice Males, Lady Justice Whipple and Lord Justice Miles dismissed the appeal of Clara Martinez Thedy de Safa against a June 2025 order that joined her to the proceedings as her husband's heir. In a split outcome, however, the court allowed the appeal of the couple's sons, Akram and Alejandro Safa, who formally disclaimed their inheritance under Lebanese law before the hearing.
The judgment, handed down on Wednesday, means the widow remains a party to the litigation and can be pursued for her late husband's liabilities, up to the value of what she inherited. The family was also ordered to pay costs reported at just over 150,000 dollars to the Republic.
Death between trial and judgment
The ruling is the latest turn in litigation that has run in London since 2019. Mozambique sued Mr Safa and the Privinvest companies over three projects, financed by state guaranteed loans, for a fleet of fishing vessels and related facilities to exploit the tuna rich waters off its coast. The Republic alleged the contracts were procured by the bribery of its officials and were wholly unsuited to its needs.
Mr Safa gave evidence at the trial but died on 29 January 2024, before Mr Justice Robin Knowles delivered his judgment that July. When the judgment came, it found for the Republic against the Privinvest corporate entities for 1.9 billion dollars. The judge subsequently permitted Mozambique to amend its claim to include Mr Safa's widow and sons, all heirs under the law of Lebanon, where he was domiciled, and to serve them outside the jurisdiction.
That statement, from the Republic's solicitors Peters and Peters earlier this year, captures the strategy now vindicated in part by the appeal court. Under Lebanese law, the court heard, heirs automatically succeed to both the assets and the debts of the deceased, their liability capped by the value of what they inherit. An heir may disclaim. The sons did so in June this year; their mother did not.
A judgment already final
Wednesday's decision lands on top of another blow to the Privinvest camp in May, when the group's own appeal against the 2024 judgment was struck out by Lord Justice Phillips after it failed to provide the security for costs ordered by the court. The 1.9 billion dollar judgment is therefore final as against the corporate entities, and attention across the whole affair has shifted to the painstaking business of tracing assets against which it can be enforced.
The Tuna Bonds Case at a Glance
- Mozambique sued the Privinvest group and its founder Iskandar Safa in London in 2019 over loans, guaranteed by the state, for fishing and maritime security projects.
- The projects became known as the tuna bonds or hidden debts scandal after the guarantees, concealed from donors, triggered a financial crisis in one of the world's poorest countries.
- Mr Justice Robin Knowles gave judgment for the Republic for 1.9 billion dollars in July 2024; Mr Safa died between the trial and the judgment.
- The Court of Appeal has now ruled that his widow can be pursued in England as his heir; his sons escaped liability after disclaiming their inheritance.
- Privinvest's own appeal was struck out in May 2026, making the judgment final against the companies.
What happens next
Practically, the Republic's lawyers can now press on with disclosure and enforcement steps against Mrs Safa, whose liability, the court emphasised, is limited to her inheritance. Symbolically, the ruling reinforces London's position at the centre of the long tail of the scandal: a case that has already spanned the Commercial Court, the Court of Appeal, and parallel proceedings in several jurisdictions, and whose final chapter, the actual recovery of the money, is still being written.