South Africa extradites former Mozambican finance minister to US to face corruption charges

Former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang has departed for United States of America after he was extradited to face fraud and corruption charges.

Chang was handed over to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) by South African authorities.

Since 2018, Chang has been jailed in South Africa while Mozambique authorities fought to have him extradited to Maputo.

Civil society in Mozambique lobbied for his extradition to US because they felt back home he would not face justice because was a person of interest for politicians who intended to hide their part in the scandal.

Chang was the central figure in what came to be known as the “Tuna Scandal,” whereby, in 2013 and 2014, three companies borrowed about 38 billion Rands in public debt without approval of Parliament.