Angola seizes assets of allies of ex president Dos Santos
LUANDA - Angolan prosecutors have seized assets belonging to two of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos’s closest aides, the latest step in a crackdown on corruption.
Assets including a brewery and a vehicle assembly plant held by General Manuel Helder Vieira Dias, known as Kopelipa, and Leopoldino do Nascimento, known as Dino, were taken, Angola’s Prosecutor’s Office said in an emailed statement on Wednesday. Other assets that were seized included shares in a sugar plant and supermarket chain, a cement factory and buildings and residences. The Wall Street Journal this month cited Angolan President Joao Lourenco as saying the previous regime and its associates siphoned off $23.79 billion from the state, mostly through fraudulent contracts with government-owned companies. Among the targets of the corruption probe are Dos Santos’ children.
Meanwhile, Angola opened the hearing of the two high ranking military officers, General “Kopelipa” and
General “Dino,” who are accused of participating in a large corruption scandal.
Thanks to their lawyer both generals managed to escape journalists outside the Attorney General’s Office in the capital city Luanda.
Their lawyer declined to comment the case that has been making headlines in Angola. Kopelipa the former head of the military house, and General Dino ex- head of communications of the Angolan Armed forces, stand accused of embezzlement, money laundering, and fraud.
In a case related to a 2.5 billion dollar line of credit opened by Angola’s Industrial and Commercial Bank to the China International Fund (CIF), both Generals close
to the former President are said to have diverted large sums of money for their own benefit. Kopelipa the former head of the military house, and General Dino ex- head of communications of the Angolan Armed forces, stand accused of embezzlement, money laundering, and fraud. In a case related to a 2.5 billion dollar line of credit opened by Angola’s Industrial and Commercial Bank to the China International Fund (CIF), both Generals close to the former President are said to have diverted large sums of money for their own benefit.
The two men are accused of having favoured the purchase of real estate, by a Chinese fund, using state money. - BLOOMBERG