Man behind Dos Santos leak revealed

An alleged Portuguese hacker has been named as the person responsible for leaking documents which detailed how Isabel dos Santos made her fortune by corrupt and exploitative means. 

Rui Pinto, a 30-year-old “computer genius” from near Porto, was identified by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) as the source of the so-called Luanda Leaks. He is currently awaiting trial in Portugal for leaking documents alleging corruption in professional football on the website Football Leaks. 

The latest leak saw some 715,000 documents uncovered. These revealed how Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, had amassed her $2bn fortune at the expense of her native Angola.

In particular the documents exposed how Ms dos Santos was able to gain access to lucrative land, oil, diamonds and telecoms deals while her father was president of Angola. She denies all allegations against her, claiming they are part of a politically-motivated witch hunt by the Angolan government. 

Mr Pinto’s lawyers have repeatedly defended him as a whistleblower, telling Reuters news agency “without the immense Luanda Leaks revelations, made possible thanks to our client, the regulatory, police and judicial authorities would have done nothing.”

Mr Pinto was detained last year on charges related to unauthorised access to data and attempted extortion. In 2019, he leaked millions of documents which were used as the basis for media reports that made damaging allegations against England’s Manchester City and France’s Paris St-Germain. 

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