Speaking to Lusa, Sérgio Raimundo confirmed that the defense was notified on Tuesday about the start of the adversarial investigation, requested “more than a year ago”.
The adversarial investigation is an optional phase of the Angolan criminal process in which the aim is to determine the viability of the accusation in order to prove the judicial decision to bring the accusation, taking the defendant to trial, or to shelve the initial investigation.
Isabel dos Santos' lawyer stressed that the Public Prosecutor's Office should have presented the accusation to the judge within ten days, finding it strange that the decision was delayed, given that, in January last year, the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Groz, stated that the criminal case against Isabel dos Santos would be sent to court in the next few days.
The businesswoman, daughter of former President José Eduardo dos Santos (now deceased), is accused of eleven crimes in the case involving her management of the state oil company between 2016 and 2017.
Isabel dos Santos is accused of embezzlement, qualified fraud, abuse of power, breach of trust, document forgery, criminal association, economic participation in business, influence peddling, money laundering, tax fraud and qualified tax fraud, in a case that also involves Paula Oliveira, her friend and partner, her former manager and friend Mário Leite da Silva, her former financial director at Sonangol Sarju Raikundalia and the consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The defendants are said to have caused the State a loss of over 208 million dollars, involving unduly paid salaries, loss-making sales, tax fraud and fraudulent payments to companies.
Sérgio Raimundo finds it strange that the court has only now ruled, adding that this is one of the preliminary questions that will be raised before the beginning of the adversarial investigation.
“The defense requested the opening of an adversarial investigation to counter the prosecution’s version more than a year ago. We were only notified yesterday and we are identifying which aspects can be challenged, but this deadline is obvious”, stressed Isabel dos Santos’ lawyer.
“We were racing against the clock and barely had time to consult the case. We waited for almost a year and a half and now we are notified on a Tuesday to begin the following Thursday”, he pointed out, stressing that this decision “weakens the defense”.
“This is not innocent, it is intentional”, he added.
