A former Mozambique finance minister pleaded not guilty to U.S. criminal charges over his alleged involvement in a fraud involving $2 billion in loans to three state-owned companies. Manuel Chang entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn. Chang had been extradited on Wednesday from South Africa, where he was arrested in December 2018 on U.S. charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Garaufis denied Chang's request for bail, agreeing with prosecutors that he was a flight risk and could escape the charges by entering Mozambique's U.N. mission in Manhattan. "The evidence regarding his…