Mozambique: Attorney general fears USA may acquit former finance minister

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Mozambique: Attorney general fears USA may acquit former finance minister

9:36 CAT | 22 May 2020

Screen grab: United States Department of Justice

Mozambique’s Attorney General (PGR) said on Thursday that former Finance Minister Manuel Chang will be acquitted in the US, if he is extradited to that country, in the process of ‘hidden debts’, because US justice has no jurisdiction over the case.

“If the decision is to extradite Manuel Chang to the United States of America, he could be returned to freedom,” Beatriz Buchili said today in parliament.

The PGR was answering questions from MPs about the extradition process of the former finance minister, whose custody is disputed by the Mozambican and US courts for trial in the ‘hidden debts’ process.

Beatriz Buchili recalled that a New York court decided in December that the justice of the United States of America has no jurisdiction over the case of Mozambican ‘hidden debts’.

This understanding of US justice led to the acquittal of Jean Boustani, a French-Lebanese.

“The judicial decision may not be different from the one taken in the previous case, concerning Jean Boustani, a key piece in the whole process of indebtedness and misappropriation of the amounts in question,” Buchili stressed.

The outcome in the case of Jean Boustani, the magistrate continued, reinforces Mozambique’s interest in fighting for the extradition of Manuel Chang, who is being held in South Africa.

The PGR criticised Mozambican civil society organisations that defend the extradition of the former Finance Minister to the USA and point out the lack of credibility of the Mozambican justice.

Beatriz Buchili said that the Mozambican state is the only one with jurisdiction over the case and that Mozambicans are the ones who have suffered most from the ‘hidden debts’ scandal.

“There must be consistency in the treatment of this matter. If, on the one hand, full clarification of the judicial process relating to debt contraction is required, on the other hand, it is necessary to consider that such clarification requires the accountability of all individuals involved, including Manuel Chang, which can only happen with his extradition to Mozambique,” he said.

“It is not logical, nor does it make sense, at the same time, to demand full and speedy clarification in the process that goes on in Mozambique and the extradition of Manuel Chang to the United States”, he said.

The US, Buchili continued, has no jurisdiction over this matter, apart from not cooperating with the Mozambican authorities and pursuing their own interests.

On Wednesday, the PGR accused the US authorities in the parliament of not cooperating in the judicial process on the hidden debts, pointing out that the US silence is undermining the investigations and the speed of justice.

Already in the information given to Parliament for 2018, the head of the Mozambican public prosecutor’s office had also accused the US of non-cooperation in the case of ‘hidden debts’.

This month, in turn, the US accused Mozambique of “pursuing” the extradition of Manuel Chang to protect former President Armando Guebuza and senior officials of the ruling party, suspected of having received $150 million (€138 million) in bribes.

“The United States has evidence that $150 million in bribes went to Mozambican civil servants, including $10 million [€9 million] for the Frelimo party in Mozambique and $60 million (€54.5 million) for Armando Guebuza (former President) and his son,” reads the US submission for the extradition of the former Mozambican Finance Minister.

The request, to which Lusa had access, was recently sent by the U.S. Department of Justice to the Minister of Justice in South Africa.

The ‘hidden debts’ are related to loans worth $2.2 billion (€2 billion) contracted between 2013 and 2014 with British subsidiaries of investment banks Credit Suisse and VTB by Mozambican state-owned companies Proindicus, Ematum and MAM.

The loans were secretly endorsed by the Mozambican government at the time, without the knowledge of the parliament or the Administrative Court.

A total of 20 people were indicted in Mozambique, awaiting the decision of the courts on their appeals against the indictment, known in August 2019.

Among them are figures from the circle close to former President Armando Guebuza, such as one of his sons, Ndambi Guebuza, and his personal secretary, Inês Moaine.

The Mozambican justice system has opened an autonomous case and has established 10 defendants, including six Mozambicans and four foreigners whose identities have not yet been revealed.

Source: Lusa