14th July, 2023
A former Mozambique finance minister, Manuel Chang pleaded not guilty at a New York court on Thursday to criminal charges over his alleged involvement in a $2 billion fraud.
Chang entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn.
The U.S. charges relate to loans obtained from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB Bank (VTBR.MM) that were guaranteed by the Mozambique government and signed off by Chang during his 2005-2015 term as finance minister.
Hundreds of millions of dollars of the money went missing and the projects the loans were ostensibly for never delivered on their promises.
U.S. authorities say the borrowing was fraudulent and the projects, spanning tuna fishing, shipyard development and maritime security, a front for an elaborate bribery and kickback scheme.
When the full extent of the borrowing was revealed in 2016, it prompted donors including the International Monetary Fund to cut off support to Mozambique and triggered a currency collapse and debt default
He was extradited on Wednesday from South Africa, where he was arrested in December 2018 on U.S. charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.