Manuel Rabelais, who responds to accusations of embezzlement, money laundering and violation of budget execution rules, as director of the Office of Revitalization of Institutional Communication and Marketing of the State Administration (GRECIMA), began his trial on December 9, 2020, and after a break of more than 30 days, his hearing was concluded Monday.
On the last day of his hearing, Manuel Rabelais said, according to the newspaper Jornal de Angola, that he will have returned to the State, through the National Asset Recovery Service of the Attorney General's Office, at least 30 properties, the communication group and other enterprises, as well as two million dollars and three vehicles, all acquired before being director of GRECIMA.
The crimes of which Manuel Rabelais has been accused date back to 2016 and 2017, a period in which Manuel Rabelais would have used his powers at GRECIMA to acquire from the National Bank of Angola foreign currency that was channelled to some commercial banks.
According to the indictment, the former Minister of Social Communication would have moved the equivalent of more than 250 thousand euros of GRECIMA's accounts "even after the extinction of the body.
In his defense, on the first day of the trial, Manuel Rabelais admitted having asked the Angolan central bank to join the process of buying and selling foreign exchange free, given the economic difficulties that GRECIMA was facing because of the crisis.
