South Africa plans to extradite former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang to Maputo where he will face embezzlement charges following a 2018 secret government loans scandal, APA learnt here on Wednesday.
South Africa’s Justice Department said it was ready to hand over Chang to Mozambican authorities since he no longer has immunity from prosecution.
Chang, who was arrested at an airport South Africa in December 2018 while in transit to Maputo from Dubai, was a member of parliament and, according to Mozambican laws, enjoyed immunity until October 2019 when he ceased to be an MP following elections of that year.
The department said it had now received a request from the Mozambican government for Chang to be extradited so that he could face prosecution.
“The accused will therefore be handed over to Mozambican authorities to stand trial on the following charges in Mozambican law: abuse of position and function; violation of budget laws; fraud by deception; embezzlement; and money Laundering among others,” Department of Justice spokesman Chrispin Phiri said.
The former minister is accused of fraudulently getting loans valued at more than US$2.2 billion from international financial institutions for private companies but using the government as a guarantor. The minister and his co-accused did not seek parliamentary approval for the transactions.
One of his co-accused, the son of former president Armando Guebuza, is currently in court on the same charges.
JN/APA