"As part of the fight against corruption and in relation to asset recovery, we heard yesterday [Thursday] public statements from the Attorney General of the Republic regarding the efforts that the PGR is making to execute the sentence against an Angolan citizen which has assets worth almost two billion US dollars (...) in different countries and which, according to the ruling of the Angolan court, revert in favor of the Angolan State", said João Lourenço, at the opening of the Central Committee meeting of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA).
The party president also said that the PGR has been working since December 2023 with the Swiss authorities, a country where a large part of these resources are domiciled in banks, without having been able to recover these amounts to date.
“The Angolan executive is sovereign in deciding the fate of this resource, obviously being subject to the scrutiny of the competent Angolan entities, defined in the Constitution and the law”, he stated.
The head of state was referring to the case of Portuguese-Angolan businessman Carlos São Vicente, and son-in-law of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, who has bank accounts in Switzerland with more than one billion dollars, in addition to other accounts in Portugal, Singapore, Dubai and Bermuda, according to data provided by the Attorney General's Office.
The Portuguese-Angolan businessman, married to Irene Neto, is serving a nine-year sentence for embezzlement, tax fraud and money laundering, having also been sentenced to pay compensation of 500 million dollars.
The Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, said, Thursday, that they have been working with the Swiss authorities to make this money available to the Government, indicating that the national authorities have already been, for example, in Singapore, to try to recover 550 million dollars and 42 thousand euros.
In Bermuda there is another 200 million dollars, in Dubai 18 million dollars and in Portugal 20 million euros, in a total of almost two billion dollars that should revert to the State, defended Pitta Groz.
In his speech, João Lourenço also highlighted that, as part of the fight against corruption and in the recent past, the country recovered 500 million dollars in its favor, which were in banks in the United Kingdom.
“On this occasion, we thank the British authorities for the speed in returning the assets, but above all for having trusted in the suitability and seriousness of the Angolan executive and respecting our sovereignty”, he stressed.
At issue is the case known as “500 million dollars”, which involves José Filomeno dos Santos “Zenú”, son of former President José Eduardo dos Santos, the former governor of the National Bank of Angola, Walter Filipe, as well as a businessman and a central bank official.
