A court in Mozambique has sentenced 2 ex-spy bosses and son of a former president to 12 years each for their part in a corruption scandal in which the government sought to conceal huge debts, triggering financial havoc.

The former head of security and intelligence, Gregorio Leao, head of the security service’s economic intelligence division, Antonio do Rosario and ex-president Armando Guebuza son Ndambi Guebuza were among 19 defendants accused in the country’s biggest graft scandal.

Handing down the sentence following after a week of reading the verdicts, the Judge, Baptista said the scam had aggravated the impoverishment of thousands of Mozambicans.