Angolan tycoon Isabel dos Santos, once dubbed “Africa’s richest woman”, has hit out at the UK for seeking sanctions, telling the BBC the move was surprising because she had not been found guilty of “any corruption in any court.” any country”.
Last month, the daughter of Angola’s former president was described by the UK government as a “notorious kleptocrat” and slapped with a travel ban over alleged looting of wealth in oil-rich Angola.
He said the government of Angola is a campaign to discredit him.
“There is politics at the end of the day,” Dos Santos, 51, told the BBC Africa Daily podcast from his residence in Dubai.
“There was no investigation, someone came and investigated and looked at the evidence or asked me to clarify.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced sanctions on Dos Santos as part of his campaign to crack down on “dirty money”.
The government’s statement is suspect “He abused his positions in public sector companies to embezzle at least £350m [$442m]deprives Angola of much-needed development aid and financing”.
A spokesperson for the attorney general of Angola said that it is not a political institution but only investigates evidence of alleged crimes. They said that he has been accused of many crimes so he needs to defend himself.
A British foreign office spokesman said that under the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations, the UK “can designate a person where there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the person is involved in serious corruption”. They also pointed out that anyone who has been punished can request a review at any time.
The allegations against Dos Santos, which he denies, were first made in 2020 BBC Panorama reported on the leaked documents which was shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
The disclosure, known as the “Luanda Leaks”, allegedly involved one of the most dubious deals made by a London-based company.
Dos Santos, the eldest daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos – who ruled from 1979 to 2017 – was educated in private schools in the UK during Angola’s long civil war.
After graduating from King’s College London as an electrical engineer, he got an office job in a professional company in Europe.
But in his early twenties, Dos Santos decided he wanted to do more business at home, telling the BBC he started by delivering crates of beer – Uber style – to restaurants and shops.
He went on to build a large business empire, founding a mobile phone company, a satellite TV company, a commercial bank, a brewery and a cement factory – with shares in other companies in Angola and Portugal.
A month before her 40th birthday, she entered Forbes magazine’s rich list and is not only the richest woman in Africa but also the youngest billionaire on the continent.
Dos Santos told BBC Africa Daily that he never thought of himself that way but considered himself a “pioneer”.
“I am also the biggest private employer in my country. I have created more than 200,000 jobs. I have been one of the biggest taxpayers in my country and I have contributed a lot to building the Angolan economy.”
In 2016, he was put in charge of the struggling state-owned oil company, Sonangol. His appointment was challenged by critics at the time but the Supreme Court stood by it, he said.
“I had a good track record in the private sector. I have some experience in turning around companies… that aren’t doing well, to make them work.”
Some of the most serious allegations of corruption against him date from the time he was in charge of Sonangol.
Just months after his father stepped down in 2017, his successor, President Joao Lourenço, was fired, and two years later his assets were confiscated.
The former first daughter of Angola believes that Lourenço, who targeted the Dos Santos family as part of the anti-corruption campaign, has betrayed his father: “He began to blame the past, saying that everything that happened before him was bad.
“But he himself is a construction worker [ruling] MPLA, he was the vice president of the party. He was the defense minister.
“If anything, I think he had more to do with the Angolan economy and Angolan decision-making and political decision-making than most Angolans.”
Dos Santos is also frustrated that despite his assets being frozen in Angola five years ago, the case has yet to go to trial – something he said would normally take 18 months as it is a civil case that is often involved. alleged unpaid debts. He says he is not facing any charges.
He also revealed that the original freeze order was based on forged documents, including a passport in his name bearing the signature of the late war veteran Bruce Lee.
A spokesperson for Angola’s attorney general said they would not discuss the details of any ongoing disputes in public but said any evidence that the documents were forged must be presented in court.
In 2021 Forbes had removed him from its list of top billionaires – Dos Santos explains that the freeze on assets means that he will no longer be able to receive dividend payments and is not allowed to receive financial contributions from his companies.
The mother of three has also had to deal with her own losses in the past few years – her husband died in a diving accident and her father died in 2022. he did not return to Angola to attend his funeral.
If he were to return to Angola, he could be arrested – according to the government’s order, Interpol issued a Red Notice, which is a request to “find and temporarily arrest” someone, however it is not an international arrest warrant.
Dos Santos says that after these difficult years and assets that continue to freeze, he now wants people to hear his side of the “complex” story so that “hopefully they start to clarify the misconceptions that exist”.
When asked if he would ever run for the presidency, he said “it’s possible” – echoing comments he made to the BBC four years ago.
“Look, I will always serve my country,” he said. “Leading is working, and I wish to work for Angola, whether it’s politics, whether it’s business, whether it’s charity, or culture.”
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