Former Mozambican finance minister Manuel Chang will be released on March 26 and deported to Mozambique, seven years after his arrest in the hidden debts case, according to a New York court ruling.
A request for early release on health grounds, submitted by the defence to the federal court for the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) in Brooklyn — which sentenced Chang to 102 months in prison a year ago — was rejected in a February 12 ruling seen today by Lusa. Judge Nicholas Garaufis found no “extraordinary and compelling” reasons to justify early release, but confirmed the March 26 release date.
“He is expected to complete his sentence before the end of next month, at which point he will be deported to Mozambique,” the ruling states, noting that Chang, 70, is “weeks away from completing his sentence,” making any early release minimal in practical terms. The defence had cited kidney problems, hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidaemia.
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Chang, who led Mozambique’s finances from 2005 to 2015, is currently held at FCI Danbury federal prison in Connecticut. He was sentenced by the EDNY on January 17, 2025, to 102 months for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in the hidden debts case.
The sentence was significantly reduced due to administrative credits accounting for time already served in pre-trial detention since his arrest in South Africa in December 2018 and good behaviour, bringing the effective remaining sentence to around 14 months.
Former Mozambican finance minister, Manuel Chang, in court in Kempton Park, Johannesburg, South Africa, Tuesday Jan. 8, 2019. Chang appeared in court following a U.S. extradition request in connection with an alleged dollar 2 billion fraud scheme. (AP Photo/Phill Magakoe)
Chang was accused of accepting $7 million (€6.1 million) in bribes transferred through US banks to European accounts, which he denied. Prosecutors alleged that Chang and other participants diverted more than $200 million (€173.5 million) in total, deceiving investors about how loan proceeds would be used and causing them substantial losses.
Between 2013 and 2016, three Mozambican government-controlled companies quietly took out large loans from major foreign banks, with Chang signing government guarantees.
The funds were meant to finance a tuna fleet, a shipyard, coastguard vessels and radar systems to protect offshore natural gas fields, but bankers and government officials diverted the money.
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Discovered in 2016, the debts were estimated at around $2.7 billion (€2.3 billion), plunging one of the world’s fastest-growing economies into financial turmoil. The Mozambican government subsequently reached out-of-court settlements with creditors to repay part of the debt.
