Supreme court orders Chang’s detention

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Supreme court orders Chang’s detention

3:59 CAT | 28 Jan 2019

In file CoM

Mozambique’s Supreme Court has asked the country’s parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, to lift the parliamentary immunity of former Finance Minister Manuel Chang, and has ordered his preventive detention.

Since Chang is currently in South African police custody, the Supreme Court’s order will only take effect if he is returned to Mozambique.

Chang has applied for bail to the Kempton Park Magistrates Court in Johannesburg. A decision on that request will not be taken until 31 January. Chang is also fighting against extradition to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud and securities fraud. A decision on extradition is likely to be taken on 5 February.

The Supreme Court dispatch dated Thursday says that Chang is a suspect in the investigation launched by the Attorney-General’s Office in 2015 into the scandal of the three fraudulent companies, Proindicus, Ematum (Mozambican Tuna Company) and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management), which obtained loans of over two billion dollars in 2013 and 2014 from the banks Credit Suisse and VTB of Russia on the basis of illicit government loan guarantees signed by Chang.

The Supreme Court lists the crimes Chang is accused of under the PGR investigation. They include abuse of his office, money-laundering, corruption, embezzlement, fraud, and violation of the budget law.

The latter refers to the fact that Chang’s loan guarantees smashed through the ceiling on such guarantees established by the 2013 and 2014 budget laws – laws which Chang himself had introduced into the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

Anyone with a pocket calculator could have worked out that the guarantees were a gross violation of the budget law – as some journalists pointed out at the time.

The Supreme Court says that, if Chang is not placed in detention, then he may well flee, or could try and disturb further investigations. Since Chang is still a member of the Assembly, and enjoys parliamentary immunity, the Court also asks the Chairperson of the Assembly, Veronica Macamo, to authorise his detention and lift his immunity.

None of this will have much effect, if the South African court decides to extradite Chang to the United States.

Source: AIM