Mozambique Ex-Finance Minister Drops South African Bail Request

(Bloomberg) -- Former Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang, who the U.S. has accused of accepting bribes in a $2 billion debt scandal, abandoned his application for bail in South Africa.

Chang will remain in custody in South Africa until a hearing on Feb. 5, Magistrate Sagra Subroyen said at a court near Johannesburg on Wednesday. The court will decide on that date which of two requests for extradition -- by Mozambique and the U.S. -- will get preference, J.J. du Toit, deputy director of public prosecutions in Johannesburg, said.

Chang has been detained in South Africa since Dec. 29 on U.S. Department of Justice charges.

Read a related article about Chang’s case

To contact the reporter on this story: Ana Monteiro in Johannesburg at amonteiro4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson

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