Mozambique’s former finance minister sentenced to prison for ‘tuna affair’

A former Mozambique finance minister, accused of facilitating a multibillion-dollar fraud that nearly pushed his country’s economy into disaster, has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $7 million. dollars for forfeiture, prosecutors said.

The conviction came after a four-week trial that ended in August in which Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of U.S. District Court in Brooklyn determined that the former minister, Manuel Chang, 69, had conspired to commit wire fraud and money laundering through an international scheme that defrauded a number of international investors of approximately $2 billion, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.

Prosecutors said he received $7 million in bribes while signing guarantees on behalf of the Republic of Mozambique, without proper authorization from the country’s Parliament, to secure three loans for maritime projects aimed at building shipyards and developing tuna fishing.

“Chang’s egregious misconduct betrayed his duty to the people of Mozambique and defrauded investors, including those in the United States, of substantial sums,” said Brent S. Wible, chief of the Department of Justice’s criminal division. Justice.

“With today’s sentencing, Chang has been held accountable for his violations of U.S. law,” he added.

Mr. Chang’s lawyer, Adam C. Ford, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to his time behind bars, Mr. Chang will have to pay damages to his victims, the statement said. The amount he will have to pay will be determined later.