Businesswoman Isabel dos Santos illegally transferred 52.6 million euros from the Angolan state oil company Sonangol to her company using forged documents, a Dutch court has concluded.
The verdict has been cited by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the case that became known as “Luanda Leaks” and had access to the – yet unpublished – document through the Dutch newspaper NRC.
The decision was dictated by the Enterprise Chamber, a special division of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, which concluded that the money had been diverted through Sonangol Dutch public limited companies for the benefit of Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo (deceased in 2020, in Dubai, as a result of a diving accident).
The decision supports the ICIJ investigation and validates a damning report from a court-appointed director of Esperaza Holding BV – a vehicle used by Sonangol to buy shares in Portugal’s Galp.
The report concluded that the 2006 sale of 40% of Esperaza to Exem Energy B.V., a company owned by Sindika Dokolo, was the result of an “act of corruption” and should be annulled.
At the end of 2006, Sonangol sold 40% of the shares it held in Esperaza and transferred them to Exem, a company whose ultimate beneficiaries were Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos, and her husband.
ICIJ points out that Isabel dos Santos and her associates benefited from lucrative businesses related to oil, diamonds, telecommunications, banking and real estate under the government of José Eduardo dos Santos, who remained in power for nearly 40 years.
After his father left the presidency, a position taken by his successor João Lourenço, currently in his second term, Sonangol challenged in court the legality of the acquisition of Exem’s 40% stake in Esperaza, a dispute that was in favor van Sonangol was dissolved, in 2022. by a Dutch arbitration body, which declared the acquisition null and void due to “contrary to public order and good customs”.
On November 15, 2017, newly elected Angolan President João Lourenço dismissed Isabel dos Santos as President of Sonangol, in the context of the fight against corruption which he adopted as an election banner.
At the request of Sonangol, the Business Chamber in 2020 ordered an investigation into Esperaza’s affairs from January 1, 2017.
The court concluded that the businesswoman signed false resolutions to channel 52.6 million euros in dividends from Esperaza Holding BV to her own company and that she tried to hide these illegal transfers, with dates prior to her resignation.
The court said it was established that “any person who signed one or more decrees knew that they were retroactive” and that the company’s directors should have realized that Isabel dos Santos was trying to pay dividends quickly, through falsified resolutions and with retroactive effect. .
“The decision is an interim step in state-owned Sonangol’s long-standing effort to recover the stolen millions,” added ICIJ.
Source: DN
