The former minister made it known that the decision was taken freely.
Quoted by Angop, Manuel Rabelais clarified that the cabinet was financially and administratively autonomous, but this autonomy never happened. Grecima was even four months without receiving any financial allocation from the Ministry of Finance, he said.
As for current issues, the former minister indicated that the management of this matter was the responsibility of Semba Comunicação - a company with which the office had signed a contract to provide services.
Payment for Semba Comunicação's services was allocated by the Ministry of Finance, through the President's Security House, he said, adding that in order for Grecima to meet its financial obligations it needed to receive between 90 and 100 million dollars a year.
However, due to the crisis, the agency never received the above mentioned amount, he indicated.
As for the 121 million kwanzas it received in 2017, Manuel Rabelais explained that this money was used to pay off debts that the office had outstanding after hiring companies to provide services.
The trial of the former minister took off on Wednesday. The former director of Grecima is accused of crimes of embezzlement on a continuing basis, violation of plan and budget execution rules and money laundering, practiced between 2016 and 2017, when he still held the position of director of the former Grecima.
In the case, Hilário Santos, Grecima's then administrative assistant, is also accused. According to the indictment, Manuel Rabelais, assisted by Hilário Santos, is alleged to have turned the office never into a currency exchange office "by soliciting companies and individuals to deposit kwanzas in exchange for foreign moderates.
The trial will restart next Monday.
