Former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang will be extradited to the United States of America (USA) earlier this week to face his involvement in the hidden debt scandal, an official source told Lusa this Saturday.
“Yes, we can confirm that he will be extradited to the US this week,” Atlenda Mate, spokeswoman for the South African National Police Command (SAPS), told Lusa.
“He was arrested in South Africa, this week we will turn him over to the FBI, acting on an extradition request,” the spokeswoman said.
According to the same source, Manuel Chang, who was Mozambique’s economy and finance minister between 2005 and 2015, will be transferred by the FBI “on Monday or Tuesday.” [Federal Bureau of Investigation]police unit of the US Department of Justice, on a special plane, after four and a half years in prison in South Africa for involvement in the Mozambican state’s hidden debt scandal, estimated at 2.7 billion dollars (2.5 billion euros).
The extradition of Manuel Chang to the United States before July 10 was communicated to the parties by the South African authorities on June 30, according to a report from the Johannesburg Department of Public Administration, to which Lusa had access.
“The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development has been informed by Interpol in Pretoria that they are in contact with the US Marshall Service and that Mr. Chang will be handed over to US authorities between July 8 and 10, 2023. This was also confirmed by Ms. Lerner of the U.S. Department of Justice,” the memo read by Lusa said.
Manuel Chang, 63, was arrested on December 29, 2018 at the international airport. OR Tambo in Johannesburg on his way to Dubai under an international arrest warrant issued by the United States on 27 December for his alleged involvement in the trial. so-called hidden debts.
Over the past four years, the former ruler of Mozambique, considered “key” in the hidden debt scandal, has faced two competing requests in South Africa from the US and Mozambique to extradite him out of the country without trial.
On May 24, 2023, the South African Constitutional Court for the second time in 12 months rejected the latest complaint by the Attorney General of Mozambique (PGR) against the extradition of former Minister Manuel Chang to the United States.
According to a court order to which Lusa had access, the Constitutional Court confirmed that the former ruler of Mozambique should be handed over and extradited to the United States of America to stand trial for alleged crimes in that country, as stated in the extradition request dated January 28, 2019.
On June 7 last year, the South African Constitutional Court rejected Maputo’s request to appeal Chiang’s extradition to the United States.
In November 2021, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg overturned Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s decision to extradite Chang to Mozambique.
The former finance minister of Mozambique is indicted and has already been sentenced by the Judicial Court of the city of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, in an autonomous process for undeclared debts.
US authorities allege that the former ruler colluded with Credit Suisse bankers and international promoters to take over the country for maritime projects, such as buying a fleet to fight maritime piracy, that never came to fruition.
In 2021, Credit Suisse paid nearly $475 million (€433 million) to complete multiple investigations into its role in the scandal, one of several the Swiss bank has faced in recent years, in a process that also involved three former bankers.
Mozambique took out loans of nearly US$2 billion (€1.8 billion) for offshore projects but did not report them to international partners or show them in public accounts, and when it failed to pay the contributions, it caused a “default” that threw country in economic and financial crisis.
The case has become an example of a not always transparent connection between African countries and large international banks, and the process is also contested in the United Kingdom.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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