Mozambique ex-Finance Minister facing extradition to US

A former Finance Minister of Mozambique, Manuel Chang (63), who approved secret loans that plunged the country into a crisis, has been arrested in SA and is awaiting extradition to the US, according to a TimesLIVE report. He has appeared at the Kempton Park Magistrate’s Court and is expected back in court tomorrow. A copy of a court document dated 27 December, directing SAPS officers to arrest Chang for eventual surrender to the US, states that he is wanted for conspiracy to commit ‘wire fraud’, ‘securities fraud’ and ‘money laundering’. Chang was Finance Minister between 2005 and 2015 under the presidency of Armando Guebuza. Towards the end of his tenure loans to the value of $2bn were secretly negotiated and signed. Donors including the International Monetary Fund and World Bank suspended aid to the impoverished country after the government admitted it had secretly borrowed the $2bn to fund a coastal protection plan.

– TimesLIVE