Court Freezes Bank Accounts of Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s Richest Woman

An Angolan court has ordered the freeze of all bank accounts belonging to Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos in an attempt to recover the money she reportedly owes the government.
    
Also frozen are all bank accounts of Isabel’s Congolese husband, Sindika Dokolo and their business associate Mário Leite, the head of the Angolan Foment Bank (BFA). The Luanda court indicated that there was sufficient proof that Isabel owes the government at least $100 million siphoned through State-run oil company Sonangol and Sodiam, and transferred through entities abroad.

The court noted that the three acknowledged the money they owe but had refused to pay.

“Ms Isabel dos Santos also tried unsuccessfully to transfer huge amounts of Euros to Russia through Portugal in order to invest in Japan,” the court decision read.

Isabel, the daughter of former Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos is Africa’s richest woman with a net worth of $2.2 billion, according to Forbes. Her assets in Angola include a 25 percent stake in Unitel, one of the country’s two mobile phone networks, 25 percent stake in Banco Internacional de Credito (Banco BIC), 51 percent in BFA and 99.9 percent in Zap Media.

Taking to social media after the court decision, Isabel fought the claims that she owes the State, saying they are “politically motivated.” She has previously denied wrongdoing during her father’s time in office.

“[The] Angolan court did not provide the companies or the individuals subject to the order prior notice of the existence of any proceedings. The companies and the individuals therefore did not have an opportunity to present evidence to defend themselves prior to the issuance of the order,” Isabel tweeted on Thursday.

In another tweet, she said: “I would like to leave a message of tranquility and confidence to my teams ... We will continue, every day, in every business, doing our best and fighting for what I believe in for Angola. The road is long, the truth will prevail. United we stand stronger.”

In 2017, she was ranked by Forbes magazine the 74th most powerful woman globally. Isabel, 46, studied engineering at King’s College, London, and opened her first business, a restaurant called Miami Beach in Luanda, in 1997 when she was 24. 

“My companies employ thousands of employees in Angola, providing well-paid jobs with good benefits. We have contributed over 200 million dollars in taxes. We provide over 20,000 jobs, and we support over 30,000 small businesses,” she said.

Isabel argued that many of her companies will shut down as a result of the court decision, noting that she would not pay salaries, make new investments or honor agreements with suppliers.

The country’s Attorney-General’s Office has 30 days to implement the court order failure to which the assets will be returned to their owners, according to State-run Jornal de Angola quoting a lawyer.