Ford O’Brien Landy LLP held closing arguments at the Chang EDNY trial today. Ford O’Brien Landy LLP represents the former Finance Minister of Mozambique.
Chang’s defense lawyer, Adam Ford of Ford O’Brien Landy portrayed the former minister as a public servant doing what he thought was best for his country with little knowledge of the consequences of the projects and the people involved. He pushed back on the nicknames, pointedly referring to Chang as “Minister Chang” and arguing that Chang’s decision to sign off on the loans came from other economic factors at the time – especially a 2011 discovery of natural gas reserves in the country. Ford added that the projects were initially expected to come through, even though they eventually failed.
“Everything was delivered. Mozambique got their shipyards, they got their fleet, they got their fishing contracts,” Ford said. “[Chang] had no way of knowing at the time he signed these what the future would hold.”
He also cast doubt on whether Chang used the money to enrich himself – noting there were no records of purchases he had made with the bribe money or any mention of him having followed up on its uses.
And he said the government didn’t provide enough evidence to prove the overall case beyond a reasonable doubt. There was no direct bank record evidence of the bribe payments, no records of any negotiations between Chang and the co-conspirators and no clear indication of conspiracy shown in the text messages the government pointed to as evidence of the coordinated effort to bribe Chang, he argued.
“Every text message is a dramatic buildup, where you’re expecting to see something going on here, like a $7 million exchange,“ he said. “But there’s nothing.”
Counsel to Manuel Chang:
Partners Adam Ford and Jamie Solano, counsel Anjula Prasad and Stephen Halpin and associates Arthur Kutoroff and Carrie Sartori in New York City.