court in New York on Thursday in connection with a $2 billion corruption and money laundering scandal that prosecutors said defrauded American investors and threatened to further destabilize the economy of one of the world’s poorest countries., a country of 31 million on Africa’s southern coast on the Indian Ocean. He was ordered detained until at least October, when his attorneys argue for a dismissal of his case.
“He is relieved to be here,” his lawyer, Adam Ford, said after the arraignment in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn. Ford has called the charges “meritless” and asserted that Chang would be acquitted - like another key figure in the alleged scheme who was acquitted by a U.S. jury in 2019. Much of Thursday’s hearing focused on whether Chang should be released on bail. The judge, citing the amount of money involved and the gravity of the charges, agreed with prosecutors that he could be a flight risk.