The US courts have scheduled July 29th for the start of the trial of former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, who is accused of taking part in the two billion dollar securities fraud scandal involving the Credit Suisse Group.

According to a publication by the Center for Public Integrity (CIP), the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a new indictment against Manuel Chang, dated December 21, 2023. "The trial is scheduled to begin on July 29, 2024, in Brooklyn, New York, in the same courtroom where Jean Boustani was tried in 2019."

Chang denies all the accusations and points to Filipe Nyusi, the current President of the Republic, as the main person responsible for contracting the hidden debts. Meanwhile, at a preliminary hearing on March 25, the judge in the case authorized the US government to search Manuel Chang's cell phone, which may bring new information that was not previously known.

However, the start of Chang's trial, according to CIP, coincides with the electoral campaign period for the general elections in Mozambique. "At the moment, the prosecution (DOJ) and Chang's defense, which is the law firm Ford O'Brien Landy LLP, are discussing preliminary issues known in US criminal law as Motions in Limine," reads the publication.

Chang has been in prison in New York since July last year, after being extradited from South Africa.

The US indictment claims that the former ruler was part of a group of corrupt Mozambican leaders who conspired with bankers from Credit Suisse to secure a loan for maritime projects that ended up not materializing and increasing the public debt.

Chang was Mozambique's finance minister under Armando Guebuza, between 2005 and 2010, and is said to have guaranteed debts of 2.7 billion dollars, secretly contracted in favor of Empresa Moçambicana de Atum (Ematum), ProIndicus and Mozambique Asset Management (MAM), public companies mentioned in the US indictment.

The mobilization of the loans was organized by the Russian banks Credit Suisse and VTB and secretly authorized without the knowledge of Parliament and the Administrative Court.