Angolan Isabel dos Santos denounces UK sanctions over ‘soiled cash’

Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos, as soon as dubbed “Africa’s richest girl”, has criticized the UK for imposing sanctions on her, telling the BBC the transfer got here as a shock as she had not been acknowledged responsible of “no corruption in any court docket within the nation.” any nation.”

Final month, the daughter of Angola’s former president was described by the British authorities as a “infamous kleptocrat” and slapped with an property freeze and journey ban for allegedly siphoning off Angola’s wealth , wealthy in oil.

She mentioned the Angolan authorities was behind a marketing campaign to tarnish its picture.

“On the finish of the day, it’s political,” Dos Santos, 51, instructed the BBC Africa Each day podcast from his base in Dubai.

“There was no investigation, the place somebody got here to research and take a look at the proof or requested me to make clear. There was no due course of,” she mentioned.

British International Secretary David Lammy introduced the sanctions in opposition to Dos Santos as a part of his marketing campaign to crack down on “soiled cash”.

An alleged government statement she had “systematically abused her positions in public corporations to embezzle a minimum of £350 million” [$442m]depriving Angola of sources and financing for important improvement.

A spokesperson for Angola’s lawyer normal mentioned it was not a political establishment and solely investigated proof of alleged criminality. They mentioned she had been accused of a number of crimes and due to this fact needed to defend herself.

A UK International Workplace spokesperson mentioned that underneath the World Anti-Corruption Sanctions Laws, the UK may “designate an individual the place there are affordable grounds to suspect that they’re or have been concerned in severe corruption.” In addition they careworn that anybody sanctioned may request a assessment at any time.

The allegations in opposition to Dos Santos, which she denies, have been first made in 2020, when BBC Panorama reported on leaked documents which was shared with the Worldwide Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

The investigation, generally known as the “Luanda Leaks”, claimed that one of the suspicious transactions was made by means of a London-based firm.

Dos Santos, the eldest daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos – in energy from 1979 to 2017 – was educated at non-public colleges in the UK throughout Angola’s lengthy civil conflict.

After qualifying as {an electrical} engineer at King’s Faculty London, she took an workplace job at a consultancy in Europe.

However in her early 20s, Dos Santos determined she needed to pursue a extra entrepreneurial profession at residence, telling the BBC that she began out delivering circumstances of beer – Uber-style – to eating places and shops.

She went on to construct an enormous enterprise empire, making a cell phone firm, a satellite tv for pc TV operator, a business financial institution, a brewery and a cement manufacturing facility – with stakes in different corporations in Angola and Portugal.

A month earlier than her fortieth birthday, she made Forbes journal’s wealthy checklist and was thought-about not solely the richest girl in Africa, but additionally the youngest billionaire on the continent.

Dos Santos instructed BBC Africa Each day that she by no means thought-about herself as such, however thought-about herself a “trailblazer”.

“I’m additionally the biggest non-public employer in my nation. I’ve created greater than 200,000 jobs. I’ve been considered one of my nation’s largest taxpayers and have contributed probably the most to constructing the financial system of Angola.”

In 2016, she was controversially named head of troubled state oil firm Sonangol. Her appointment was challenged on the time by critics, however the Supreme Courtroom upheld it, she mentioned.

“I’ve had expertise within the non-public sector. I’ve specific data of turning round companies… which aren’t doing nicely, to steer them in direction of effectivity.”

A number of the most severe corruption allegations in opposition to her date from her time as head of Sonangol.

Months after her father resigned in 2017, she was fired by his chosen successor, President Joao Lourenço, and two years later her property have been frozen.

Angola’s former first daughter believes Lourenço, who focused the Dos Santos household as a part of an anti-corruption marketing campaign, betrayed her father: “He began blaming the previous, saying that all the things that had occurred earlier than him was unhealthy.

“However he himself is from [ruling] MPLA, he was vice-president of the celebration. He was Minister of Protection.

“Quite the opposite, I believe he had much more to do with the Angolan financial system, Angolan decision-making and political decision-making than most Angolans.”

Dos Santos can also be indignant that, though her property have been frozen in Angola 5 years in the past, the case has but to be heard in court docket – one thing she says would often occur in a most interval of 18 months, as this can be a civil matter which often entails allegations of unpaid money owed. She claims to not be the topic of any felony proceedings.

She additionally alleges that the preliminary freezing order was based mostly on false paperwork, together with a passport in her identify bearing the signature of the late martial arts professional Bruce Lee.

The spokesman for Angola’s lawyer normal mentioned he wouldn’t publicly focus on particulars of ongoing litigation, however mentioned any proof that paperwork had been falsified ought to be introduced in court docket.

In 2021, Forbes eliminated her from its checklist of the best billionaires. Dos Santos says the asset freeze means she will be able to now not obtain dividends and can’t obtain any monetary contributions from her corporations.

The mom of three has additionally needed to take care of private losses lately: her husband died in a diving accident and when her father died in 2022, she did not return to Angola to attend his funeral.

If she have been to return to Angola, she may nicely be arrested – on the request of the federal government, Interpol issued a purple discover, which is a request to “find and provisionally arrest” somebody, however it’s not a matter of a global arrest warrant.

Dos Santos says that after these tough years and additional asset freezes, she now desires folks to listen to her aspect of a “advanced” story to “hopefully begin to make clear the misconceptions that exist.”

Requested if she would ever run for president, she mentioned it was “a risk”, echoing feedback she made to the BBC 4 years in the past.

“Look, I’ll at all times serve my nation,” she mentioned. “To steer is to serve, and I need to serve Angola, whether or not in politics, or in enterprise, whether or not in philanthropy or in tradition.”