A South African court ordered former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang be extradited to the U.S. to face charges related to a $2 billion debt scandal that led to a sovereign default.
Wednesday’s ruling overturned a decision by South African Justice Minister Ronald Lamola to send Chang back to Mozambique, where he also faces charges.
Chang has been in custody in a prison outside Johannesburg since he was arrested at the city’s main airport in December 2018 on a U.S. warrant. An extended legal battle has raged since then over whether he should be sent to Mozambique or the U.S., which both sought his extradition.
The financial scandal emanated from loans that state-owned Mozambican companies took out in 2013 and 2014 to pay for a fleet of tuna-fishing boats, shipyards, and a coastal protection system. It culminated in the government defaulting on its debt in 2016, and has led to court cases spanning from New York, where three former Credit Suisse Group AG employees pleaded guilty to charges, to London and Maputo, Mozambique’s capital. Source: Bloomberg
