Former Finance Minister Manuel Chang was sentenced this Friday to eight and a half years in prison, including the six years he has already served, in connection with the hidden debts case.

Chang was convicted of involvement in a fraud related to loans of 2 billion dollars, which in the end he failed to pay back, creating huge economic damage to the Mozambican state.

He was accused of accepting bribes and conspiring to divert funds from Mozambique's efforts to protect and expand its natural gas and fishing industries, in a plan to enrich himself and cheat investors.

According to a DW publication, the sentence was handed down by federal judge Nicholas Garaufis, who recommended that Chang receive credit for the approximately six years he spent in custody while awaiting trial.

This means that he could be released from prison in the US and deported to Mozambique after serving two and a half years of his sentence.

It should be noted that the former minister had already been convicted last August by a jury in Brooklyn, New York.