The former finance minister of Mozambique has been sentenced to 8-1/2 years in jail in the US for his role in the ‘tuna bonds’ scam

A former finance minister of Mozambique was found guilty of taking part in a scam involving $2 billion in loans to three state-owned enterprises to build the maritime infrastructure of the southern African nation, and he was sentenced to 8-1/2 years in jail on Friday.

After a four-week trial, Manuel Chang, 69, was found guilty in August by a Brooklyn jury of conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in the “tuna bonds” case.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis imposed the term, stating that he would suggest Chang be credited for the roughly six years he had been detained before trial. This would allow Chang to be freed from U.S. jail and deported to Mozambique after two and a half years.

“The victims trusted Mr. Chang to steward their investments and his country’s development in a corruption-free manner,” Garaufis wrote during Chang’s sentence in federal court in Brooklyn.

Prosecutors claimed Chang accepted bribes totaling $7 million from the Emirati-Lebanese shipbuilding company Privinvest in exchange for issuing a Mozambique government guarantee for loans to three state-backed enterprises from banks, including Credit Suisse.

According to prosecutors, investors, including some in the United States, lost millions of dollars when the state-backed enterprises defaulted on the loans, which were intended to boost Mozambique’s fishing sector and enhance marine security.

When donors like the International Monetary Fund temporarily stopped providing aid to Mozambique, financial instability and a currency crash resulted.

A sentence between 11-1/4 and 14 years in jail had been recommended by the prosecutors.

“He assisted others in plundering his nation for $7 million,” prosecutor Jonathan Siegel stated during the hearing.

Chang expressed regret and told the court that he had first believed the projects would benefit Mozambique but had subsequently realized his mistake.

Through a Portuguese interpreter, Chang stated, “I sincerely apologize for the harm that I caused.”

Chang’s attorney, Adam Ford, announced during the hearing that he intends to appeal his conviction.

Chang had previously spent around six years in detention, including four years in South Africa while awaiting extradition and more than a year in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, which is one of the reasons Chang’s attorneys had not requested any jail time.

During the hearing, Ford stated, “He has been punished enough.”

Following its acquisition by UBS (UBSG.S), Credit Suisse agreed in 2021 to pay around $475 million to American and British authorities in order to settle bribery and fraud allegations associated with the incident.

A European subsidiary entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to conduct wire fraud in the United States.

Privinvest was not allowed to challenge London’s High Court’s decision last month that Mozambique may obtain almost $825 million from Privinvest’s deceased owner and his businesses. Privinvest’s attorney stated that the company plans to appeal.