Businesswoman is suspected of committing several crimes involving her management at the Angolan state oil company, Sonangol
Businesswoman Isabel dos Santos was acquitted, during the contradictory investigation phase, of four of the 11 crimes of which she was accused, the Angolan Supreme Court reported this Tuesday.
The contradictory investigation phase was requested by the defense of the businesswoman and former President of the Board of Directors of Sonangol Isabel dos Santos, with four of the 11 charges being withdrawn.
Isabel dos Santos is suspected of committing several crimes involving her management at the Angolan state oil company, between 2016 and 2017, including embezzlement, qualified fraud, abuse of power, abuse of trust, falsification of documents, criminal association, economic participation in business, influence peddling, money laundering, tax and qualified fraud.
The Supreme Court’s press release does not specify which crimes remain.
In addition to the daughter of former President of the Republic José Eduardo dos Santos, the case involves four other defendants – Mário Filipe, Paula Cristina Neves Oliveira, Sarju Chandulal and the company PVC-Angola.
All the defendants were acquitted of the crime of criminal association and PVC-Angola was acquitted of all the crimes of which it was accused, “because, at the time of the facts, the law that presided over the contradictory instruction (criminal procedure code of 1929) did not hold legal entities criminally responsible”.
Meanwhile, the four individual defendants filed an appeal against the pronouncement order, and the case must be re-evaluated by the Supreme Court.
The Angolan businesswoman, who currently resides in Dubai, has always maintained her innocence and claims that the process is politically motivated.
