Maputo — The executive director of the South African Company Fly Modern Ark (FMA), Theunis Crous, is the new general-director of the publicly-owned Mozambique Airlines (LAM).

According to a Wednesday statement from LAM, the company's board of directors has decided to remove João Carlos Pó Jorge from his position as general-director.

Pó Jorge, who managed LAM for almost six years, is leaving his position at a moment when the company faces cases of alleged embezzlement and other corruption schemes, which have been harming its functioning, as it fights to recover from bankruptcy.

The FMA was hired last April by the government to bring LAM into profitability and rescue it from bankruptcy.

The decision to appoint Crous general director "falls within the restructuring plan, which aims to bring more flexibility into the company, as well as improving its procedures and services', said the LAM statement. "Theunis Crous will hold the position until 30 April this year, after the decision on whether to renew the contract of Fly Modern Ark'.

Recently, FMA claimed that around 3.2 million dollars had disappeared from the airline's coffers last December alone.

As response to this claim, the government, through the Institute for the Management of State Holdings (IGEPE), has called for the intervention of the Attorney-General's Office (PGR) in order to hold those involved in the alleged embezzlement accountable for their crimes.