"The Court based its decision on the fact that the minutes of that General Meeting were not signed on the same day it took place", stresses the businesswoman in a statement sent to Lusa, in which she argues that, "as is the practice of business management , common and current in several companies, the minutes are always drawn up after the meetings have taken place and the signatures of the different parties and people involved are collected in the following days, with the date on which the meeting took place appearing in the minutes".
The court, thus, demonstrates "lack of knowledge of the normal business functioning", so, it concludes, "an appeal will be lodged against this decision".
According to the official statement from the businesswoman, the court "decided to annul the decisions taken at the General Meeting of Esperaza shareholders, held on November 14, 2017, which approved the distribution of dividends to Esperaza shareholders, including Sonangol".
"It is not business practice that the dates on which the signatures of the parties were collected appear in the minutes, so the fact that the signatures are after the date of the meeting cannot lead to classifying a minute as having a "false date"", argues the businesswoman, stressing that, "incidentally, as is natural, what matters is that the minutes demonstrate and express the will of the parties involved on the day the meeting was held, which was unequivocally the case".
At Sonangol, vinca, "the minutes of the meetings are not written or signed on the same day they take place. Many of Sonangol's minutes are even signed at the following meetings and this never constituted an act of mismanagement (it would even be strange that this was considered)".
In addition to the arguments already presented on Tuesday night, Isabel dos Santos also says that Sonangol "falsely alleged to the Dutch Court that the members of the Board of Directors of Sonangol, on September 26, 2017, were in the process of taking inauguration of the President of the Republic of Angola, João Lourenço, and who, for that reason, were away from the company and did not meet that day, thus asking the Court to consider the minutes of the meeting of the Board of Directors of 26 September 2017".
However, according to the businesswoman, "the truth is that the members of the Board of Directors of Sonangol were not invited to the inauguration of President João Lourenço on September 26, 2017, and on that day they were at Sonangol, in headquarters of the company, they met and were working and fulfilling their duty, due to the strategic importance of the company, as well as guaranteeing its operations".
At issue is the decision of a Dutch court which concluded that the businesswoman illegally diverted, using forged documents, 52.6 million euros from the state oil company Sonangol, to her company.
The decision was dictated by the Business Chamber, a special department of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal which concluded that the money was diverted from Sonangol through Dutch public limited companies to benefit Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo (who died in 2020, in Dubai, due to an accident while diving).
The sentence is quoted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was at the origin of the case that became known as "Luanda Leaks" and had access to the document - not yet published - through the Dutch newspaper NRC.
In a reaction still on Tuesday night, the businesswoman justified the appeal by emphasizing that the court did not analyze "relevant documents submitted by the defense, documents that could significantly and substantially change the decision rendered, unequivocally demonstrating the veracity material of the facts in question".
"These documents will be presented in the appeal, demonstrating the truth and existence of the minutes of Sonangol, including the corresponding and real deliberations that, for unknown reasons, were ignored", stressed Isabel dos Santos in a publication on the social network Instagram.
The Dutch court's decision supports the ICIJ investigation and validates a damning report by a court-appointed director of Esperaza Holding BV – a vehicle used by Sonangol to buy shares in Portugal's Galp.
The report concluded that the 2006 sale of 40 percent of Esperaza to Exem Energy BV, a company owned by Sindika Dokolo, was the result of an "act of corruption" and should be annulled.
At the end of 2006, Sonangol sold 40 percent of the shares it held in Esperaza and handed them over to Exem, a company whose final beneficiaries were Isabel dos Santos and her husband.
ICIJ points out that Isabel dos Santos and her partners benefited from lucrative businesses linked to oil, diamonds, telecommunications, banks and real estate under the government of José Eduardo dos Santos, who remained in power for almost 40 years.
After his father left the presidency, a position assumed by his successor João Lourenço, currently in his second term, Sonangol challenged in court the legality of the acquisition of Exem's 40 percent stake in Esperaza, a dispute resolved in favor of Sonangol, in 2022, by a Dutch arbitration body, which annulled the acquisition for being "contrary to public order and good customs".
On November 15, 2017, the newly elected President João Lourenço dismissed Isabel dos Santos as president of Sonangol, in the context of the fight against corruption that she assumed as her electoral flag.
At Sonangol's request, in 2020, the business chamber ordered an investigation of Esperaza's business from 1 January 2017.
The court concluded that the businesswoman signed false resolutions to channel 52.6 million euros in dividends from Esperaza Holding BV to her own company and that she tried to hide these illegal transfers, with dates prior to her dismissal.
The court said it was established that "every person who signed one or more decrees knew that these were retroactive" and that the company's directors should have realized that Isabel dos Santos was trying to make a quick payment of dividends, through forged resolutions and retroactive.
"The decision is an interim step in the long attempt by state-owned Sonangol to recover the stolen millions", adds the ICIJ.
