Leaked documents show Isabel dos Santos ‘ripped off’ her country
Documents leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reveal that Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, made her fortune through exploiting her own country.
The documents reveal that Dos Santos and her husband were allowed to buy valuable state assets in Angola, including land, oil, diamonds and telecoms, in series of suspicious deals conducted while her father was president.
Andrew Feinstein, the head of Corruption Watch, says that the documents show how Ms Dos Santos exploited her country at the expense of ordinary Angolans.
“Every time she appears on the cover of some glossy magazine somewhere in the world, every time that she hosts one of her glamorous parties in the south of France, she is doing so by trampling on the aspirations of the citizens of Angola”, he said.
Ms Dos Santos denies the allegations, claiming they are part of a politically motivated witch-hunt by the Angolan government. She is currently under investigation for corruption by the Angolan authorities and her assets in the country have been frozen.
Among the more suspicious activities revealed by the leak are Ms Dos Santos’ actions as chair of state oil company Sonangol. Having been put in charge by her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, Isabel was dismissed from the company after her father retired the presidency. Upon leaving, Ms Dos Santos approved $58m of suspicious payments to a consultancy company in Dubai called Matter Business Solutions. Leaked documents reveal that the consultancy was run by her business manager and owned by a friend.
The BBC reports that Matter Business Solutions sent more than 50 invoices to Sonangol in London on the day that Dos Santos was fired. Dos Santos also appears to have approved payment’s to her friend’s firm after she was sacked.
Similarly corrupt circumstances arose in the diamond industry. In 2012, Ms Dos Santos’ husband, Sindika Dokolo, signed a deal with Angolan state diamond company Sodiam to purchase shares in the Swiss luxury jeweller De Grisogono. The leaked documents now reveal that Sodiam invested $79m into the deal, while Mr Dokolo only put up $4m for 50-50 ownership. Sodiam had also awarded Dokolo a €5m brokering fee, so he didn’t have to use his own money.
The documents further reveal that Sodiam borrowed the capital for the investment from a private bank in which Ms Dos Santos is the biggest shareholder. The loan was guaranteed by a presidential decree from her father and Sodiam was required to pay 9% interest to the bank.
Sodiam’s chief executive, Bravo da Rosa, told the BBC that the Angolan people hadn’t seen a single dollar from the deal: “In the end, when we have finished paying back this loan, Sodiam will have lost more than $200m”.
Photo credit: Getty Images | David M. Benett