Mozambique ex-minister to be extradited to the US for graft scandal

An ex-Mozambican finance minister wanted by Washington in connection with a graft scandal that triggered an unprecedented financial crisis in his home country will be handed over to the FBI this week, South African police said Monday 10 July 2023.

Manuel Chang has been held in South Africa since 2018 at the United States’ request over his alleged role in a case that triggered financial havoc in Mozambique.

ALSO READ: South Africa boots former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang

“Yes, Manuel Chang is expected to be extradited to the USA, he was arrested in South Africa and has been in custody since his arrest,” police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe told.

FBI IN THE COUNTRY?

“I know that the FBI are in the country, they have already arrived and they are ready to pick him up so it’s just a matter of handing him over,” she said.

ALSO READ: “We’ll allow Mozambique to have their minister back” – says Dirco about Manuel Chang

The so-called “hidden debt” scandal saw the Mozambican government contracting secret loans amounting to $2 billion in 2013 and 2014 from international banks to buy a tuna-fishing fleet and surveillance vessels.

Maputo hid the loans from parliament, but the debt came to light in 2016, prompting donors, including the IMF and the World Bank, to turn off financial support.

ALSO READ: Just in: Caster Semenya wins appeal on testosterone rules

WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS IN MOZAMBIQUE

Chang — who signed off the loans and lost a battle against extradition earlier this year — is accused of having used the US financial system to carry out the fraudulent scheme.

The scandal sparked Mozambique’s worst economic crisis since independence from Portugal four decades previously. An independent audit later found $500 million had been diverted and remains unaccounted for.

ALSO READ: Mozambique Terror Watch: Ramaphosa lands in Maputo for SADC meeting

ub-zam/imm
© Agence France-Presse