US jury convicts Mozambique’s ex-finance minister Manuel Chang in ‘tuna bonds’ corruption case
A U.S. jury has convicted former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang in a financial conspiracy case that welled up from from his country’s “tuna bond” scandal
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang was convicted Thursday in a financial conspiracy case that welled up from from his country's “ tuna bond ” scandal and swept into a U.S. court.
A federal jury in New York delivered the verdict.
Chang was accused of accepting payoffs to put his African nation secretly on the hook for big loans to government-controlled companies for tuna fishing ships and other maritime projects. The loans were plundered by bribes and kickbacks, according to prosecutors, and Mozambique ended up with $2 billion in “hidden debt,” spurring a financial crisis.
“Today’s verdict is an inspiring victory for justice and the people of Mozambique who were betrayed by the defendant, a corrupt, high-ranking government official whose greed and self-interest sold out one of the poorest countries in the world,” Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
