The UK high court has frozen £580m worth of assets belonging to Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former president and a billionaire who has been accused of corruption for a long time.
Dos Santos, Africa’s first female billionaire, is being sued by the Angolan telecoms company Unitel, which she founded during her father’s 38-year reign as president. Jose Eduardo dos Santos ruled Angola until 2017, and died last year.
Last month, Unitel requested a global freezing order for her assets from the high court in London. Judge Robert Bright granted this order on Wednesday.
He granted Dos Santos a deadline of one month to submit a report of her assets, which consist of real estate in London, Monaco, and Dubai. It is believed that the businesswoman possesses a residence on St Mary’s Place near the Royal Albert Hall in South Kensington, estimated to be worth around £21 million.
Unitel claims that Dos Santos, while serving as a director, provided loans to Unitel International Holdings (UIH), a Dutch company, in 2012 and 2013 for the purpose of acquiring shares in telecoms companies. These loans remain unpaid and Unitel states that approximately £300m is still owed.
According to Dos Santos, she is experiencing a “campaign of oppression” from the Angolan government. She also blames Unitel for the UIH’s failure to pay back loans due to their involvement in the illegal seizure of UIH assets in Angola.
Unitel has denied any responsibility in the reported confiscation of assets and stated during the previous hearing that Dos Santos is attempting to use the case as a means of furthering her public relations campaign against her father’s successor, João Lourenço.
In 2020, an inquiry conducted by the Guardian and collaborating journalists from 20 different countries brought attention to doubts regarding the origin of Dos Santos’s riches. The inquiry utilized a vast collection of private documents.
The investigation known as “Luanda Leaks,” conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, revealed that Dos Santos had taken advantage of exceptional privileges granted to her due to her father’s position in the government.
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The couple, Dos Santos and her husband Dokolo, have stated that the computers of their employees and legal advisors were hacked. They believe this to be a politically motivated attack by Lourenço. They deny any accusations of misconduct and deny receiving funding from the state.
Source: theguardian.com
