Former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang will be sentenced on November 20, 2024 in New York. According to a Zitamar News, the decision was made by a judge in New York City, in the United States of America (USA).

Citing a communication from the US court, the same publication says that Manuel Chang is trying to obtain his medical records from the Metropolitan Detention Center, in the federal prison where he is being held, as part of the process before his sentencing.

On August 8, Chang was convicted by a US federal court of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering when he committed Mozambique to guaranteeing 2 billion dollars in loans to buy offshore security equipment and fishing gear from the Lebanese shipbuilder Privinvest as part of the so-called "hidden debts" or "tuna bond" scandal.

The verdict was handed down by a federal jury in New York, as the news agency reported at the time Associated Press (AP). Manuel Chang 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.

So far, reports indicate that Chang, who was the chief financial officer from 2005 to 2015, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyers have said that the former minister was doing what his government wanted when he signed the promises that Mozambique would pay back the loans and that there is no evidence of a financial quid pro quo for the then ruler.

Between 2013 and 2016, three companies controlled by the Mozambican government discreetly took out million-dollar loans from large foreign banks.

(Photo DR)