Yesterday March 26, José Filomeno dos Santos (photo), son of former president José Eduardo dos Santos, was charged by the justice system and banned from leaving the country. This is a new development of the $500 million embezzlement case in Angola.

According to some information, the former head of Angola’s sovereign wealth fund is accused of “fraud, fund embezzlement, influence peddling, money laundering and criminal association”.

It is said that during his presidency, José Filomeno dos Santos had ordered the transfer of $500 million into a bank account in the UK, in complicity with the central bank’s former governor Valter Filipe da Silva, who had also been accused a few days earlier in connection with the same case.

Britain, which had frozen these funds, indicated through a statement from the National Crime Agency (NCA) that it was ready to return the fund embezzled to Luanda. “Zenu” dos Santos who has been head of the national sovereign wealth fund since 2013, was also implicated in the Panama Papers scandal and ousted last January by President Joao Lourenço. Let’s recall that this new case falls in line with the anti-graft policy initiated by President Lourenço, mainly directed to persons close to the previous regime, which led to the sacking of Isabel dos Santos. The other is Filomeno dos Santos’ sister and former president of Sonangol. Currently, she is being investigated for an eventual embezzlement case.  

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou (intern)