The confirmation of the former president was given in a letter in which José Eduardo dos Santos replied to the Supreme Court where the so-called "500 million" case is being tried.
The Public Prosecutor's Office, however, raised doubts about the authenticity of the document, leading the court to adjourn the trial for one hour.
However, after an hour of examining the document, the panel of judges confirmed the authenticity of the letter and accepted it, writes Novo Jornal.
The request to hear José Eduardo dos Santos was requested by the defence of the accused Valter Filipe, former governor of the BNA, who is being tried with the accused José Filomeno dos Santos, son of José Eduardo dos Santos and former president of the Sovereign Fund of Angola, businessman Jorge Gaudens Sebastião and the director of the BNA's reserve management department, António Samalia Bule Manuel.
The basis of this case is the alleged undue transfer of 500 million dollars from the state to a bank abroad, resulting from a proposal presented in 2017 by the defendant Jorge Gaudens Sebastião to the state to create a strategic investment fund for the country, which would raise 30 billion dollars, to promote structural projects.
In the letter, dated 6 February and read this Tuesday at the Supreme Court in Luanda, José Eduardo dos Santos confirms having given guidance to Valter Filipe and the former Minister of Finance, Archer Mangueira, to carry out the actions necessary to raise the 30 billion dollars available in the fund.
He also indicated that these actions would serve to obtain funding that would contribute to the solution of the economic crisis and the promotion of economic and social development and progress in the country.
According to him, his guidelines would serve to fulfil these goals, "with public interest in mind".
Although this was "a top secret operation", José Eduardo dos Santos said that this process to attract investment was made known to his successor, João Lourenço, and that he guided the former governor of the BNA to hand over the dossier to the current Minister of State for Economic Development, Manuel Nunes Júnior.
"Nothing was done in such a way as to conceal or in hiding as is now supposed to be believed", reinforced the former head of the executive.
On whether Valter Filipe exceeded his mandate, José Eduardo dos Santos stated that the defendant participated in the operation as governor of the BNA, whom he commissioned in the initial phase to sign the contracts with the prosecutors.
He also explained that it was because of his decision that the whole process was coordinated by Valter Filipe and that he removed Archer Mangueira, for reasons of agenda and because he considered that it would be better for the bank syndicate in charge of the operation to relate directly to the central bank.
He also stated that he authorised Valter Filipe to sign an agreement with the companies involved in the operation, after receiving the written information in the form of a memorandum requesting authorisation to do so, given the urgency and distance, since the governor and the promoters were in London and he [PR] was in Luanda.
He also authorized the transfer of the 500 million dollars that he said was only "a guarantee".
Since it was a guarantee, the contract was made in such a way that nobody could use the money for his own benefit and there was no possibility of someone taking over the values, the former head of state guarantees in the same letter.
The Public Prosecutor's Office (MP), however, delivered a request questioning the authenticity of the document, which is three or four pages long, with only the last one signed, and is a scanned copy of the letter.
The MP's doubts are also related to the fact that the signature was not recognized by the notary, nor was the document passed by the consulate.
The court suspended the session for one hour to answer the request.
The defence of the defendants says that this position, which they consider "a delaying tactic" demonstrates "despair" and stated that if the Public Prosecutor's Office raises suspicions about the document it must prove them.
The defendants are accused of several crimes, namely fraud for defrauding, money laundering and influence peddling, for the defendants José Filomeno "Zenu" dos Santos, former president of the Sovereign Fund of Angola, Angolan businessman Jorge Gaudens Sebastião, and fraud for defrauding, money laundering and embezzlement for the defendants António Bule Manuel, then director of the BNA's reserve management department, and Valter Filipe, former governor of BNA.
The deal, which was supposed to have a consortium of banks, had as a "previous condition", according to a statement issued by the Angolan government in April 2018, which announced the recovery of 500 million dollars, the capitalisation of 1.5 billion dollars by Angola, plus a payment of 33 million euros to set up the financing structures.
Following this, two agreements were signed between BNA and Mais Financial Sevices, a company owned by the defendant Jorge Gaudens Sebastião, a long-time friend of José Filomeno dos Santos, one for setting up the financing operation, and in August 2017, 500 million dollars was transferred to the PerfectBit account, contracted by the promoters of the operation", for the purpose of custody of the funds to be structured.
The '500 million' Case trial will resume on February 27.
