Justice investigates a friend of the Transport Minister's deal with real estate

The process with n.º 104/DNPCC/PGR-INQ-2021 is in progress with the National Directorate for Prevention and Fight against Corruption, according to a document consulted by Lusa.
Contacted by Lusa, the activist said that he was called to give statements on Thursday, without giving details. "I hope it comes to a successful conclusion," the journalist, who also runs the Maka Angola portal, told Lusa.

At issue is the acquisition of two buildings in Luanda, worth US$114 million, authorized by presidential order 159/21, to install public services of the Ministry of Transport and the Regulatory Agency for the Certification of Cargo and Logistics of Angola.

On November 8, 2021, Rafael Marques sent a complaint to the Attorney General's Office for understanding that a potentially harmful business to the State is at stake.

Among the points it highlights are the inadequacy of one of the buildings for the intended function, the "overblown and excessive value of the purchase and sale" and the friendship and godlike relations between the minister and the seller, Rui Óscar "Ruca" Ferreira Saints Van-Dunem.

According to Rafael Marques, the Welwitschia Business Center (WBC), one of the properties purchased, has 11 floors, the last two being occupied by two luxury apartments.

In addition to a ministry not serving "to be inhabited by its employees", the activist says that the WBC, whose construction began in 2011 has been on sale for several years, without success, for 45 million dollars, having been acquired for 91 million of dollars.
"For example, the Chicala Building [also targeted by the same dispatch], which has a total area of ​​less than 4271 m2, but better located and more functional for offices, costs $23 million. In other words, for an additional 4271 m2 at the WBC, the Ministry of Transport pays a difference of 68 million dollars", justified Rafael Marques in the presentation addressed to the attorney general, Helder Pitta Grós.
The journalist emphasizes that the WBC is owned by Transporte de Carga a Granel, Lda. (TCG), a company legally established on April 30, 1992, whose co-owner and managing director Rui Óscar Ferreira Santos Van-Dúnem, " close and childhood friend" of the Minister of Transport, Ricardo Viegas d'Abreu.
For Rafael Marques, the deal shows "signs of behavior that fall within the Public Probity Law", namely article 28, which prohibits the minister's intervention in matters in which there is some relevant interest, direct or indirect.