On Monday, the courts announced the seizure of several million dollars, euros and kwanzas as part of an investigation into officers of the Armed Forces, suspected of the crimes of embezzlement, retention of currency, criminal association and others.
Among them is the chief of finance of the musical band of the Presidency of the Republic, Major Pedro Lussaty, arrested last week while carrying two suitcases loaded with 10 million dollars and 4 million euros.
The case, known as "Operation Crab", sounded the alarm in financial institutions since volumes of notes with seals of the BNA, the entity responsible for issuing notes and kwanza coins in the country and which controls the currency in circulation, were seized.
In a statement released this Wednesday on its website, the BNA clarifies that it receives from commercial banks the notes they receive from the public considered to be greater than their cash requirements and makes them available to commercial banks when necessary, to ensure the existence of notes in the network of branches and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs).
Thus, the BNA puts banknotes in circulation exclusively through the commercial banks and all volumes of banknotes, new or used, that leave its strong house for these banks have the seals of the National Bank of Angola which facilitates the registration of movements and confirms the provenance of the notes.
"The values in question, in national currency, were withdrawn from our stronghold by a commercial bank, in full compliance with the rules and protocols in force for the purpose, and there has been no failure in procedures at the National Bank of Angola," the institution said.
The BNA points out that it has since opened an investigation "to find out from the commercial bank in question the circumstances in which those amounts were made available to third parties and what compliance procedures were applied to ensure their legitimacy.
Without detailing values, the Attorney General's Office indicated that "monetary values were seized in hard cash, stored in boxes and suitcases, in the order of millions, in US dollars, euros and kwanzas, as well as homes and vehicles.
On the same day, six general officers of the Presidency were exonerated, including "Lieutenant-General Ernesto Guerra Pires, of the position of advisor to the Minister of State and head of the Security House of the President of the Republic, and Lieutenant-General Angelino Domingos Vieira, of the position of Secretary for Personnel and Staff of the Security House of the President of the Republic.
In addition to these two, Lieutenant-General José Manuel Felipe Fernandes, Secretary-General of the President's Security House, and Lieutenant-General João Francisco Cristóvão, Cabinet Director of the Minister of State and Head of the President's Security House, were also removed from their posts, according to an official note, which did not give any explanation for the removal of the officers.
Lieutenant General Paulo Maria Bravo da Costa, who was the Secretary for Logistics and Infrastructure of the President's Security House, and Brigadier José Barroso Nicolau, former principal assistant of the Secretariat for the Affairs of Intelligence and State Security Organs of the President's Security House, were also dismissed.
