“s“We can confirm he will be extradited to the United States this week,” South African Police National Command spokeswoman Athlinda Mathey told Lusa.
“He has been arrested in South Africa and we will turn him over to the FBI this week on his extradition request.”said the spokeswoman.
According to the same source, the FBI’s Manuel Chang, who was Mozambique’s Minister of Economy and Finance between 2005 and 2015, will transfer him “on Monday or Tuesday.” [Federal Bureau of Investigation], police unit of the US Department of Justice, on board a private plane, after four and a half years detained in a South African prison for its involvement in a scandal about the hidden debts of the Mozambican state, estimated at $ 2.7 billion (2.5 billion euros). ).
The extradition of Manuel Chang to the US until July 10 was granted by South African authorities to both parties on June 30, according to a letter from the Johannesburg Ministry of Public Affairs that Lusa had access to.
“The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development have been informed by Interpol in Pretoria that they are in contact with the ‘US Marshall Service’ and that Mr Chang will be handed over to the US authorities during the period 8-10 July 2023. This was as confirmed by Ms. Lerner of the US Department of Justice,” You read the note that Lusa saw.
Manuel Chang, 63, was arrested on December 29, 2018 at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, on his way to Dubai, on an international arrest warrant issued by the United States on December 27, for his supposed involvement in the operation. From the so-called hidden debt.
In the past four years, the former ruler of Mozambique, seen as the “key” in the hidden debt scandal, has faced in South Africa, without trial, two competing requests from the United States and Mozambique for his extradition from the country.
On May 24, 2023, the Constitutional Court of South Africa rejected, for the second time in 12 months, a final appeal by the Attorney General of Mozambique (PGR) against the extradition of former Minister Manuel Chang to the United States.
According to the court order, which was obtained by Lusa, the Constitutional Court reiterated that the former ruler of Mozambique must be extradited and extradited to the United States of America to stand trial for alleged crimes in that country, as stated in the extradition request dated January 28, 2019.
On June 7 last year, the Constitutional Court of South Africa rejected Maputo’s request to appeal Zhang’s extradition to the United States.
In November 2021, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg overturned Justice Minister Ronald Lamola’s decision to extradite Zhang to Mozambique.
The former Mozambican finance minister is charged and has already been charged in the Judicial Court of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, as part of an independent operation for undisclosed debts.
US authorities allege that the former governor conspired with Credit Suisse bankers and international promoters to borrow the country on maritime projects, such as purchasing a fleet against maritime piracy, that never materialized.
In 2021, Credit Suisse paid nearly $475 million (433 million euros) to end several investigations into its role in the scandal, one of several the Swiss bank has faced in recent years, in a process that also involved three former bankers.
Mozambique contracted about US$2 billion (€1.8 billion) in loans for offshore projects, but did not report them to international partners or reflect them in public accounts, and when installments were not paid, this led to a ‘default’ that plunged the country into an economic and financial crisis. .
The case has become an example of the not always transparent relationship between African countries and major international banks, and a lawsuit is being filed over the process in the UK.
[Notícia atualizada às 13h23]Also Read: Manuel Zhang is expected to be extradited to the US in July
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