The Constitutional Court has dismissed with costs Mozambique government’s application for leave to appeal a ruling that former Finance Minister Manuel Chang be extradited to the US, ENCA news website reports.
Last November, the court ordered Chang to face charges of corruption, fraud, and money laundering in the US.
The crimes relate to loans taken out by the Mozambican government during Chang’s tenure as Finance Minister, who has been held in South Africa since 2018.
Chang, who served as a minister from 2005 to 2015, denies any responsibility in the case. He and 19 others, including security officials and the son of former president Armando Guebuza (2005-2015), are accused of blackmail and embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars in state-guaranteed loans.
The former finance minister is alleged to have signed and finalised around $2bn in loans, mainly from Credit Suisse and the Russian bank VTB, to state-owned companies to finance several maritime projects, including the purchase of ships.
The government in Mozambique wanted Chang to be extradited to Maputo, where 19 suspects are on trial for the same case.