Ex-minister wanted in US, Mozambique

Manuel faces R28bn fraud case

Former Mozambique finance minister Manuel Chang wants the SA minister of justice to intervene and decide on his extradition to the US. Chang appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate’s court yesterday in connection with two applications for his extradition from the governments of the US and Mozambique.

The Mozambican government filed a request for Chang’s extradition and a warrant for his arrest was also issued on March 4.

The warrant was cancelled three days later because Chang was already in custody following a request for his extradition by the US. Chang appeared briefly in court where his case was postponed to March 18 when he will bring a new motion.

In its request, the Mozambican government says Chang stands accused of abuse of position, violation of budget laws, fraud by deception, embezzlement, passive corruption for an unlawful act, money laundering and criminal association. The charges came after the US government requested that Chang be issued with a warrant of arrest for extradition in December.

One of Chang’s legal representatives, Stian Krause Snr, told the media outside court that a magistrate can no longer hear the matter because there were now two extradition applications before court. “The minister [of justice] must elect an application [out of the two] that must get preference.” According to the US government, Chang was a priority fugitive of the US department of justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) because he is believed to be a central actor in a large international fraud conspiracy involving about $2bn (R28bn) which had at least eight defendants. Chang stands accused of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The charges combined carry a maximum sentence of 45 years imprisonment.

The US has been investigating him since 2016. The investigation revealed that through a series of financial transactions between approximately 2013 and 2016, Chang and his co-conspirators arranged over $2bn in fraudulent loans from international banks to state entities purportedly controlled by the Mozambican government.

Chang and his co-conspirators made material misrepresentations of facts in the loan agreements regarding how the funds were to be spent. The loans were supposed to fund maritime projects that would benefit Mozambique but a significant portion of the funds were corruptly diverted.

‘‘ The minister must elect which of the two extraditions gets preference