South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha agreed Tuesday to have the former Mozambican finance chief stand trial at home, defying a US request to hand him over on fraud charges, local media said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2019) South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha agreed Tuesday to have the former Mozambican finance chief stand trial at home, defying a US request to hand him over on fraud charges, local media said.
"I have decided that the accused, Mr Manuel Chang, will be extradited to stand trial for his alleged offenses in Mozambique," Masutha's spokesman quoted him as saying, according to Times Live.
Chang was arrested last December at the US request. A South African court ruled to extradite him to the United States, where he is wanted for taking $150 million in bribes for authorizing fraudulent bank loans.
Mozambique then sent a rival extradition request. It was up to the South African justice minister to decide which request should be granted.
Chang, 63, was finance minister when the Mozambican government borrowed some $2 billion to buy surveillance and fishing ships. The debt was hidden from foreign donors and caused the national economy to crash after donations were frozen.
