FILE - Former Mozambican finance minister, Manuel Chang, is seen in court in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, South Africa, Jan. 8, 2019. The “tuna bond” scandal that shook Mozambique’s economy is washing into a New York court, Tuesday, July 17, 2024, where former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang is on trial on charges alleging he took bribes to commit his country — secretly — to huge loans that prosecutors say got looted. ” scandal that shook Mozambique’s economy is washing into a U.S.
Chang “abused his authority to enrich himself through bribery, fraud and money laundering,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Cooch said during opening statements this week in a federal court in Brooklyn.to conspiracy charges. Defense lawyer Adam Ford told jurors there’s no evidence that Chang agreed to take payoffs, or received a penny, in exchange for having Mozambique guarantee that the loans would be repaid.
Prosecutors contend Chang was just trying to cover his tracks by sending the money to a friend’s account. Chang’s defense maintains there’s no proof that he actually got the money. Though he testified that he met Chang twice, the defense has said the two never entered into any agreement. Defense lawyers haven’t yet had their turn to question Pearse, but Ford portrayed him during opening statements as a government cooperator anxious to garner leniency with his testimony.
A 2021 report by the Chr. Michelsen Institute, a development research body in Norway, estimated that the loans could ultimately cost Mozambique around $11 billion – around 60% of its current GDP. The institute said the crisis also likely forced nearly 2 million Mozambicans into poverty as international investment and aid slowed drastically and the government cut services to raise money.
South African courts dismissed the Mozambican government’s attempts to have Chang face charges there. Some Mozambican activists argued that he would be treated too leniently in his homeland and should be sent to the U.S. instead.