A United States judge has denied former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang’s request for early release from a Connecticut prison, ruling that his lawyers failed to provide convincing medical grounds to shorten his sentence for his role in Mozambique’s multibillion‑dollar “hidden debts” scandal.
Lawyer for Chang, 70, had argued that the former minister’s kidney problems, high blood pressure and diabetes warranted an early release and that his age made him unlikely to reoffend.
The judge, however, found no compelling evidence of a serious health condition that would justify reducing the eight‑and‑a‑half‑year sentence.
The former minister was convicted in a New York court of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering for approving illicit sovereign guarantees that enabled three security service‑run companies — Proindicus, Ematum and MAM — to secure more than US$2 billion in secret loans from Credit Suisse and Russia’s VTB.
The companies collapsed soon after, leaving the Mozambican state liable for the debt and triggering a financial crisis that saw the IMF suspend its programme and donors freeze budget support.
Chang was arrested in Johannesburg in 2018 on a US warrant and fought extradition for five years before being sent to New York in 2023.
JN/APA