Unclear associations
The arrest in February of Orlando Figueira, Portugal’s public prosecutor responsible for investigating money-laundering allegations against some of Angola’s most senior figures, sheds a bit of light on the connections between some financial institutions.
Money laundering conjures up images of cash in a suitcase, though its modern equivalent is cash in a bank account. But what if those who attempt to spirit money away from banks are not clients but primary shareholders? More to the point, what if that behaviour was the driver behind the creation of these banks?
Figueira is accused of shelving an investigation into Manuel Vicente, Angola’s vice-president and the former chairman of the state-owned oil company Sonangol, in 2012 after he received €200,000 from an alleged Sonangol subsidiary, Primagest, via the Lisbon branch of Banco Privado Atlantico (BPA) Europa.
Between 2012 and 2016, Figueira took unpaid leave of absence, working instead as a consultant in the compliance department of one of Portugal’s biggest banks, Millennium BCP. The investigation would have looked into the alleged illicit use of funds to invest in Estoril Sol, a luxury housing complex in Portugal where a number of Angola’s elite have purchased residences.
The complex is a development of renowned casino king Stanley Ho, who heads Estoril Sol. Ho is based in Macau, a former territory of Portugal and a tax haven. Ho’s company, Geocapital, is in a partnership with Global Pactum — Sonangol’s insurer and a majority shareholder (89.9%) in BPA Europa until the investigation began to heat up last year, when the shares were transferred to a Luxembourg entity called Atlantic Financial Group, whose shareholders remain unknown.
Millennium BCP’s largest shareholder is Sonangol (11.04%) and its subsidiary is Banco Millennium Angola (50%). The latter is a shareholder in BPA.
The same actors keep surfacing: Banco Millennium Angola’s other shareholders include Sonangol (29.9%) and Global Pactum (5%) while BPA’s include Global Pactum (58%) and Sonangol (9.5%).
This suggests that Sonangol is the dominant shareholder in companies allegedly conducting illicit activities to protect Vicente, who was at the time Sonangol’s head. And Figueiro worked at a bank, Millennium BCP, which Sonangol helped recapitalise during Portugal’s financial crisis.
In fact, while the bank frequently posted domestic losses, its Angolan subsidiaries documented profit increases of 50%. Portugal’s government, for its part, has claimed that Angolan capital is “very welcome”.
Much less attention has been paid to the origin of the capital and its relation to Angola’s politically connected elites.
This was an issue raised by Portuguese MP Ana Gomes and the parliamentary intergroup on integrity, transparency, corruption & organised crimes, which addressed the issue with the European Banking Authority, the European Commission and the Financial Action Task Force.
In an interview, Gomes said EU law on measures against money laundering required an investigation into the source of funds that are used to acquire shares in Portuguese entities, particularly large banks, when “politically exposed people” are involved. Even the most credible banks operating in highly regulated jurisdictions can be vulnerable.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) says in a report that Angolan banks maintain high liquidity. Yet “the majority of the population has no access to banking services, with only 20% of Angolans having bank accounts”.
Banking services are concentrated in Luanda and abroad. And not a few of Angola’s private banks appear to serve shareholders often criticised for privatising national wealth. The AfDB’s report notes that while Angola is one of the world’s 16 most “graft-ridden” countries, “President [José Eduardo] dos Santos has declared zero tolerance of corruption”.
Millennium BCP and BPA did not respond to requests for interviews.