Witness in inquiry into Africa’s wealthiest woman found hanged
A PORTUGUESE banker who managed accounts used by Africa’s richest woman allegedly to embezzle Angolan state funds has been found dead in his Lisbon flat.
Nuno Ribeiro da Cunha was found hanged in the garage of his home on Tuesday, hours after prosecutors investigating the business dealings of Isabel dos Santos, 46, the daughter of Angola’s former president, said they wanted to question him under caution.
Police said it was most likely that Mr Ribeiro da Cunha, 45, had taken his own life. Earlier this month he was found with several knife wounds to his wrists and stomach at his coastal holiday home in Lisbon.
The police were still investigating the circumstances of that incident, with the Portuguese newspaper Observador reporting that his mobile phone was being examined to discover if he had been “coerced”.
His death marks the latest twist in the dizzying saga of Ms dos Santos, one of Africa’s more colourful figures. As daughter of José Eduardo dos Santos and in possession of a £1.7billion fortune, she had established herself as a glamorous international socialite. But shorn of her father’s protection when he left office in 2017 after 38 years in power, she became one of London’s richest fugitives. Angolan prosecutors have told her she faces an international arrest warrant if she fails to return to explain how she came by her vast wealth.
Prosecutors suspect the woman Angolans know as “The Princess” embezzled funds from Sonangol, a firm that enjoyed a monopoly on the country’s vast oil wealth. Her father made her its head in 2016. Mr Ribeiro da Cunha’s death robs investigators of a witness with unparalleled insight into the case.
Documents leaked to newspapers suggested that Ms dos Santos transferred £72.5 million from Sonangol to a Dubai-based firm owned by a friend.
Ms dos Santos, thought to be living at her £13 million home in Kensington, said the accusations were “extremely misleading and untrue.” She added: “I have engaged lawyers to take action against inaccurate and defamatory reports. We deny all the latest allegations.”