Mozambique’s Ex-Finance Minister Sentenced to Prison Over ‘Tuna Affair’

A former finance minister of Mozambique who was accused of helping facilitate a multibillion-dollar fraud that nearly pushed his country’s economy into catastrophe has been ordered to spend eight and a half years in prison and pay $7 million in forfeiture, prosecutors said.

The sentencing was handed down after a four-week trial that ended in August in which Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn determined that the former minister, Manuel Chang, 69, had conspired to commit wire fraud and money laundering through an international scheme that bilked a number of international investors out of about $2 billion, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office in the Eastern District of New York.

Prosecutors said he had taken $7 million in bribes as he signed guarantees on behalf of the Republic of Mozambique, without proper permission from the country’s Parliament, to get three loans for maritime projects aimed at erecting shipyards and developing tuna fishing.

“Chang’s brazen misconduct betrayed his duty to the people of Mozambique and defrauded investors, including those in the United States, of substantial amounts,” said Brent S. Wible, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

“With today’s sentence, Chang has been held accountable for his violations of U.S. law,” he added.

Mr. Chang’s lawyer, Adam C. Ford, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition to his time behind bars, Mr. Chang will have to pay restitution to his victims, the release said. How much he has to pay will be determined at a later date.