Angola Starts Trial of Ex-Ruler’s Son Over $500 Million Transfer
Angola Starts Trial of Ex-Ruler’s Son Over $500 Million Transfer
Jose Filomeno dos Santos, a son of Angola’s former president, is due to appear in court on Monday after being charged with embezzlement and money laundering, making him the most high-profile figure linked to the previous regime to stand trial for corruption.
Jose Filomeno, also known as Zenu, was put in charge of the nation’s $5 billion sovereign wealth fund under his father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos. He is being accused of transferring $500 million from the central bank to an account in Britain around the time that his father prepared to step down after 38 years in power.
The 41-year-old is among several prominent figures who’ve lost influential positions since President Joao Lourenco assumed office two years ago. Lourenco, a former defense minister under Dos Santos, has denied there is a witch hunt against the family of his predecessor or its allies.
Zenu, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested last year and held for seven months at a hospital prison in the capital, Luanda, before being released in March. He’s expected to appear alongside Valter Filipe da Silva, a former governor of Angola’s central bank.
Zenu’s sisters have also come under fire. Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, is the target of a probe into a $38.2 million transfer that was made at state-owned oil company Sonangol before she was fired as chairwoman in 2017. Her younger sister, Welwitschia dos Santos, was stripped of her parliamentary seat in October because of her “repeated and prolonged absence,” according to state-owned news agency Angop. The two women have called these acts politically motivated.
To contact the reporters on this story: Henrique Almeida in Lisbon at halmeida5@bloomberg.net;Candido Mendes in Luanda at cmendes6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax
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