Manuel Chang, Mozambique’s former finance minister, was extradited to the United States on Wednesday to face a trial over allegations of fraud and corruption tied to a $2 billion scandal linked to deceptive governmental loans. Chang has been detained in South Africa for nearly half a decade.
Chang served as finance minister for Mozambique from 2005 to 2015 and was handed over to American authorities after his last appeal against extradition was overruled in a South African court in May. His extradition concludes a protracted five-year legal struggle to evade trial in the US and be sent back to his home country instead. There, rights organisations argue, he would likely be granted leniency.
US prosecutors have charged Chang with receiving up to $17 million in bribes as part of a scheme that facilitated loans for Mozambican state-owned companies from international banks and financiers for maritime projects. The money was reportedly embezzled through kickbacks and various corrupt activities.
Chang was indicted in a New York federal court for his role in the scandal, which, according to US authorities, duped American and international investors. The loans, totalling $2 billion, were meant for purchasing fishing vessels, naval patrol boats, and other resources to assist Mozambique’s fishing industry, but allegations suggest these purchases never materialised.
South Africa’s Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services confirmed the extradition in a statement: “The Republic of South Africa’s law enforcement agencies successfully surrendered Mr Manuel Chang to the United States of America on July 12, 2023.”
The so-called “hidden debts” scandal, revealed in 2016, triggered a financial crisis in Mozambique, leading the International Monetary Fund to withdraw its support for the country. Chang was arrested at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport in 2018 following a US warrant.
South African courts have consistently dismissed attempts by the Mozambican government to have Chang face trial in his home country.
In 2021, Credit Suisse, a Swiss bank, agreed to a minimum payment of $475 million to UK and US authorities to settle allegations of bribery and kickbacks connected to the fraudulent loans.
The corruption case has already resulted in at least ten convictions and prison sentences in Mozambique, including Ndambi Guebuza, son of former Mozambican president Armando Guebuza, who received a 12-year sentence for benefiting up to $33 million from the corrupt deal.
Image Credit; Flickr / IMF / Stephen Jaffe
