PEOPLES GAZETTE
Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Manuel Chang, the former Finance Minister of Mozambique, was sentenced by United States District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis to a term of imprisonment of 102 months and ordered to pay $7 million in forfeiture. The restitution amount will be determined at a later date. Chang was convicted after a four-week trial in July and August 2024 of wire fraud and money laundering in connection with his role in a $2 billion international fraud, bribery and money laundering scheme that victimised investors in the United States and elsewhere. He was arrested in December 2018 in South Africa, pursuant to a provisional arrest warrant issued at the request of the United States and extradited to the Eastern District of New York in July 2023.
Carolyn Pokorny, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Brent S. Wible, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; and James E. Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the sentence.
“Today’s sentence shows that foreign officials who abuse their power to commit crimes targeting the U.S. financial system will meet U.S. justice,” stated Acting United States Attorney Pokorny. “My office will continue to pursue those who violate our laws and harm U.S. investors regardless of their power, position or title.”
“Manuel Chang abused his position as Finance Minister of Mozambique by obtaining $7 million in bribe payments in exchange for helping secure more than $2 billion in loans,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Chang’s brazen misconduct betrayed his duty to the people of Mozambique and defrauded investors, including those in the United States, of substantial losses. With today’s sentence, Chang has been held accountable for his violations of U.S. law.”
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