Angola seizes generals’ assets in blitz on graft

LUANDA. — Angolan prosecutors have taken control of assets ranging from factories to residences belonging to two close allies of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, state news agency Angop said yesterday, in the latest move in a crackdown on alleged corruption.

ANGOP said that Manuel “Kopelipa” Helder Vieira Dias Jr, once head of the presidency’s military bureau, and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento, ex- head of communications of the Angolan Armed forcesa nd businessman known as General Dino, had handed over the assets voluntarily.

The generals are suspected of leveraging state contracts for their own benefit and stand accused of crimes including fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and the falsification of documents, according to the ANGOP report published last week.

Their hearing opened yesterday at the Attorney General’s Office in capital city Luanda. Thanks to their lawyer, Kopelipa and Dino managed to escape journalists outside.

Their lawyer declined to comment on the case that has been making headlines in Angola.

Their case relates to a US$2.5 billion line of credit opened by Angola’s Industrial and Commercial Bank to the

China International Fund (CIF). Both generals are said to have diverted large sums of money for their own benefit.

The two men are accused of having favoured purchase of real estate by a Chinese fund using state money. The two buildings at the centre of this case are CIF Luanda One and CIF Two, the two tallest buildings in the Ingombota area of Luanda.

Both belong to the Angolan branch of China International Fund and were seized by the state in February.

President Joao Lourenco vowed to combat graft when he took office in 2017, and his efforts have included a crackdown on associates and relatives of his predecessor.

He fired dos Santos’ daughter, Isabel, Africa’s richest woman, from her job chairing oil firm Sonangol and froze her assets, and also sacked her brother from the sovereign wealth fund. — Reuters/Angola Press.