The Constitutional Court of South Africa has blocked former Mozambican Finance Minister, Manuel Chang’s attempt to avoid extradition to the U.S. Chang faces charges of grand corruption and the looting of state funds that are related to a sovereign debt scandal worth $2 billion. Despite Chang’s attempt to block the extradition, the Gauteng High Court Judge, Margaret Victor, overturned a previous decision to extradite him back to Mozambique. This prompted the U.S. to call for his extradition to the U.S. Chang was arrested in December 2018, during transit at the OR Tambo International Airport.
It was revealed that between 2013 and 2014, several Mozambican state-owned companies borrowed over $2 billion from international banks – the money was used to purchase tuna-fishing ships and surveillance vessels. However, the government of Mozambique concealed the details of the loan from the public and the parliament. Inevitably, news of the missing funds was exposed in 2016, which led to a currency collapse and a sovereign debt default. The independent audit found that $500 million of the funds were diverted and remain unaccounted for.
