Isabel dos Santos’ accounts frozen in Portugal

Portuguese media are reporting that dozens of bank accounts belonging to Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos have been frozen at the request of Angolan authorities. 

The move follows allegations from leaked documents that Ms Dos Santos profited from corrupt business deals while her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was president of Angola. 

The so-called Luanda Leaks indicate that Africa’s richest woman and her associates ripped off the Angolan state and channelled their funds into foreign bank accounts. 

One of the most suspicious deals came during Ms Dos Santos’ stint at the head of Angolan state oil company Sonangol - a position she was appointed to by her father. The leaked documents have since revealed that in 2017 Ms Dos Santos approved $58m of dubious payments to a consultancy company called Matter Business Solutions, which is run by a friend of hers in Dubai. 

Much of Ms Dos Santos’ current $2bn fortune is based on her ownership of a stake in the Portuguese energy firm Galp, which one of her companies bought from Sonangol in 2006. 

The leaked documents show that Ms Dos Santos’ firm only had to pay 15% of the price upfront and that the remaining EUR 63m was turned into a low-interest loan from Sonangol.

Ms Dos Santos has denied all allegations that she enriched herself through corrupt deals, saying that the accusations are part of a politically motivated witch hunt. 

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