US prosecutors have accused former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang of receiving 7 million dollars (442.4 million meticals) in bribes in a ‘corrupt’ plan to enrich himself and deceive investors.
According to information published on Wednesday (17) by the American portal Law360, the prosecutors’ statements were made in New York, during the opening of the trial on Mozambique’s hidden debts involving Chang.
The website, which specialises in legal matters, revealed that during the session, a prosecutor described Chang as a ‘corrupt foreign official who abused his authority to enrich himself through bribery, fraud and money laundering’, also accusing him of a conspiracy to divert funds from Mozambique’s efforts to protect and expand its natural gas and fishing industries.
“Three agreements cost 622 million dollars to finance coastal surveillance, 855 million dollars for a fleet of tuna fishing boats and 535 million dollars for shipyard projects. Investors lost millions of dollars because the projects were a failure and the country defaulted on the loans,’ recalled prosecutor Peter Cooch, quoted by the website.
Cooch explained that ‘the employees of the shipbuilding company Privinvest knowingly agreed to a corrupt deal’ in which Chang would help them close the massive contracts ‘for a certain price’. There are documents showing that there were bribes and electronic transfers to a Swiss bank account controlled by a friend of Chang’s.”
In his explanation, the prosecutor also emphasised that ‘the defendant was so careful that he tried to avoid leaving a paper trail, but his co-conspirators were not so careful and documented their crimes’.
Manuel Chang, who is charged with conspiracy to defraud and involvement in a money laundering scheme, faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The US government argues that the Integrated Monitoring and Protection System (SIMP) project for Mozambique’s maritime space, which gave rise to the hidden debts, was not conceived by the Mozambican Executive, nor designed to protect the maritime space. The prosecution says it is a front project created by the defendants and co-conspirators to make money.
‘In reality, the ProIndicus, EMATUM and MAM maritime projects were used by defendant Manuel Chang and his co-conspirators to divert portions of the loan proceeds to pay millions in bribes to themselves, other government officials and bankers,’ argued the US Department of Justice.
‘In connection with their fraudulent scheme, the co-conspirators relied on the US financial system, among other things, to seek out and secure investors physically present in the United States,’ the document adds.
