They are the first series of arrests of suspects linked to a government debt which plunged the country into its worst financial crisis.
Among those arrested late on Thursday are Gregorio Leao, ex-director of the intelligence services, and Ines Moiane, a former assistant to former president Armando Guebuza.
“Five Mozambicans were arrested on Thursday in Maputo for their alleged part in the case of the illegal loans totalling over $2 billion, contracted between 2013 and 2014 by the companies Proindicus, Mozambique Tuna Company (Ematum), and Mozambique Assets Management (MAM).
The PGR confirmed that one of them was businessman Teofilo Nhangumele, accused of introducing secret service officials to a company which went on to sell surveillance ships and a tuna-fishing fleet to the government.
Mozambique has indicted 18 citizens for fraud involving $2 billion in loans to state-owned companies, in a scandal that has ensnared two major international banks.
“PGR is indicting 18 defendants, ranging from public workers and other citizens, on charges of abuse of power, abuse of trust, swindling and money laundering,” it said in a statement.
The indictment came days after three ex-Credit Suisse bankers were charged in the United States with fraud over their role in Mozambique’s deal in 2013 in borrowing money from international investors to fund projects that included a state tuna fisheries scheme.
Former Finance minister Manuel Chang, 63, is one of the 18 indictees who was arrested in neighboring South Africa in late December in relation to the same case.
He has denied any wrongdoing.
The AG’s office also said it would seek to have those charged in the United States and elsewhere to face charges in Mozambique.