The reason for the postponement was the failure to comply with a legal formality, as the 15-day deadline for notification of the hearing was not met.
In addition to generals Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento "Dino" and Helder Vieira Dias "Kopelipa", figures linked to former president José Eduardo dos Santos (now deceased), lawyer Fernando Gomes dos Santos and representatives of the companies China International Fund Angola, Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited sit in the dock.
Generals Helder Vieira Dias Júnior, known as Kopelipa, and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento, known as Dino, and five other defendants, including three companies, will be tried for the crimes of influence peddling and money laundering, among others, as part of a case that also involves the Angolan branch of the China International Fund, according to an indictment order from the 4th section of the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court, dated December 20, 2023, to which Lusa had access.
Former Angolan intelligence officer Manuel Helder Vieira Dias "Kopelipa" is accused of embezzlement, fraud, document forgery, criminal association, influence peddling, abuse of power and money laundering, a total of seven crimes.
Former head of communications services Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento "Dino", as well as lawyer Fernando Gomes dos Santos and You Hai Ming, from China International Fund, will answer for the crimes of fraud through defraudation, document forgery, criminal association, influence peddling and money laundering.
The companies China International Fund Angola, Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited, which were accused of influence peddling, money laundering, fraud by defrauding and document forgery, will only be held accountable for the first two crimes, since, at the time of the events, Angolan law did not provide for the criminalization of the last two legal types.
The companies were allegedly used by the defendants to set up a scheme that defrauded the State of millions of dollars, involving a financing agreement between Angola and China to support national reconstruction, after the civil war that ended in 2002.
In 2020, the two former strongmen of José Eduardo dos Santos had to hand over to the State several companies and buildings owned by their companies China International Fund Angola - CIF and Cochan, S.A., including cement and beer factories, a supermarket chain and residential buildings.
The former vice-president and former leader of Sonangol, Manuel Vicente, is not among the accused, and his name is also absent from the list of more than 30 witnesses, despite being mentioned in the proceedings, within the scope of his links with CIF.
The former "boss" of the Angolan state oil company, who enjoyed legal immunities for public office holders for five years after leaving the executive branch, is also the target of a criminal case.
