Lisbon (AFP)
Portuguese justice announced on Friday that it had opened an investigation targeting billionaire Isabel dos Santos, daughter of the former Angolan president, following a complaint by a former Portuguese MEP who accused her of money laundering.
The public prosecutor's office confirmed to AFP that they had received a complaint from the former socialist parliamentarian Ana Gomes. "This was forwarded for investigation" to the department of the public prosecutor's office responsible for serious financial crime.
The weekly Jornal Economico reported Friday that Mrs. Gomes had transmitted in November to the prosecution and the tax authorities of the "elements" which, according to her, cast doubt on the origin of the funds invested in Portugal by Isabel dos Santos.
Last month, an Angolan court announced the freezing of the billionaire's bank accounts and assets, the embodiment of the nepotism alleged against his father, ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos, during his 38 years of rule over the country. (1979-2017), former colony of Portugal.
According to the Angolan public prosecutor's office, Ms. dos Santos and her husband of Congolese origin, Sindika Dokolo, are suspected of having embezzled a billion dollars from the public groups Sonangol (oil) and Sodiam (diamonds) for the benefit of their private affairs.
Named "first woman billionaire in Africa" in 2013 by the American magazine Forbes, Isabel dos Santos has significant assets in Portugal, in telecoms and in the financial sector.
Last week, the Bank of Portugal had already indicated that it would be interested in any "new fact" that the Angolan justice could reveal and which would be likely to question his eligibility as a shareholder of the bank EuroBic.
© 2020 AFP