Manuel Chang is found guilty of $2bn 'tuna bond' conspiracy that triggered economic crisis in Mozambique.
A US court has convicted a Mozambican former finance minister over a 10-year-old conspiracy that triggered the worst economic crisis in his home country since independence.The loans were intended to pay for a fleet of tuna fishing ships and other projects, leading to the affair being dubbed the "tuna bond" scandal.Chang was arrested in South Africa in 2018, and extradited to the US the following year to face fraud and money-laundering charges.
He will be sentenced later, potentially facing 20 years in prison. Chang had denied the charges and his lawyers say he plans to appeal the verdict.The loans were issued by Credit Suisse and the Russian bank VTB and guaranteed by the Mozambican government. The court in New York heard that Chang had pocketed $7m in bribes from the shipbuilding firm Privinvest, but his lawyer said there was no evidence Chang had received "a single penny" and said the projects were approved former President Guebuza and other ministers.
Missing funds to the tune of £500m were siphoned off, according to an independent audit that was ordered by the International Monetary Fund who later withdrew their support from Mozambique. It is still not known what happened to that money.
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