"We learned that Isabel dos Santos was in the Netherlands. By means of a rogatory letter, we requested that she be notified of her status as arguido and be questioned", a judicial source told Lusa.
The Jornal de Negócios reported, on Wednesday night, that the Angolan justice tried to detain the businesswoman in the Netherlands, in June, which the PGR denied.
"At no time was detention or arrest required", indicated the source of the PGR, informing that Isabel dos Santos, when approached by the authorities "did not accept notification, nor hearing, having left the country".
On Wednesday, the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Grós, received, at the Palace of Justice, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Tsjeard Roelf Hoekstra, having discussed matters in the field of justice, on an occasion when the Attorney welcomed "the excellent relationship between the two countries".
Hélder Pitta Grós assured, according to a statement from the PGR, "that illicit financial flows have been vehemently fought, with assertive measures to recover assets illicitly withdrawn from the treasury" and considered that the strengthening of international cooperation and the training of staff are "the major institutional priorities".
The daughter of the former President, José Eduardo dos Santos, has been in the crosshairs of justice in Angola and other countries for several years, and her bank accounts and shareholdings in several companies have been arrested.
In December 2019, the Luanda Provincial Court decreed the preventive seizure of personal bank accounts of Isabel dos Santos, her husband, the Congolese Sindika Dokolo (now deceased), and the Portuguese Mário da Silva, and of several companies in which the businesswoman holds shareholdings, for alleged businesses that have harmed the Angolan State.
Participations in several companies in Portugal were also seized.
In January 2020, the International Consortium for Investigative Journalism also revealed more than 715,000 files, under the name of 'Luanda Leaks', which detail alleged financial schemes by Isabel dos Santos and her husband, which would have allowed them to withdraw money. of the Angolan treasury through tax havens.
Isabel dos Santos considers herself the victim of a "politically motivated attack" and maintains, therefore, that she will not have a fair trial or guarantees of personal safety if she returns to Angola to defend herself against the accusations.
According to Angola's PGR, several civil and criminal proceedings are being taken against Isabel dos Santos, in which the State claims amounts in excess of US$5 billion.
