Ver Angola

Economy

Court blocks payments from Sodiam to BIC bank and avoids bankruptcy of state-owned diamonds

Banco BIC is prevented from charging the State and the diamond company Sodiam any payment until the final decision on the action against Isabel dos Santos and Sindika Dokolo, by decision of the Luanda Court.

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Sodiam is thus exempted from paying the bank of which Isabel dos Santos was the founder of the last installment of the financing granted for the acquisition of the Swiss jewelery company De Grisogono, in the amount of almost 29 million dollars, which would have to be paid on 16 August and would leave the public diamond company bankrupt.

In the sentence dated 11 May, to which Lusa had access, the Luanda Provincial Court upholds the claim of the Public Ministry that claims the existence of a “credit right” against the businesswoman, daughter of ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos, her husband, Sindika Dokolo and the Portuguese manager, Mário Leite da Silva, former president of Banco de Fomento Angola and business partner of the couple.

At stake are monetary values ​​transferred by the public diamond trading company Sodiam, to Victoria Holding Limited, as well as to De Grisogono Holding, SA, “both foreign companies directly or indirectly owned by the defendants”, a fraudulent business that will have damaged the State at almost five billion dollars, it reads in the document.

The case dates back to 2010 when Mário Leite da Silva sent an email to Sindika Dokolo presenting an investment opportunity in the Swiss company De Grisogono (which sells watches and high-end jewelery products), which needed an urgent recapitalization plan in the amount of 100 million dollars, which would be financed through a sovereign guaranteed loan from the State.

Mário Silva and Sindika Dokolo would have persuaded President José Eduardo dos Santos at the time of the business advantages, so, following the guidelines of the former head of state, Sodiam invested in the Swiss company that was in technical bankruptcy. In return, the owners of De Grisogono ceded their stakes to Sodiam and Isabel dos Santos and Sindika Dokolo through vehicle companies.

On February 14, 2012, Sodiam contracted a financing of 120 millio dollars n from BIC bank (where Isabel dos Santos holds 42.5 percent of the capital) for the investment in De Grisogono while the State gave a guarantee of 120 million of dollars, becoming “guarantor of Banco BIC”, underlines the court order.

Of this financing, Sodiam has been transferring several installments over the years to Victoria Holding Limited and De Grisogono Holding Limited, totaling more than 90 million dollars.

The problem arises when Sodiam, in 2018, when the executive was already led by José Eduardo dos Santos' successor, João Lourenço, challenges the company Victoria Limited, to which control and management of De Grisogono was transferred to proceed with the reimbursement of these amounts, but it claimed not to have had positive results since 2012, although it admitted to having received money from the State.

As for the financing provided by Banco BIC to Sodiam for the business, the last installment would be due in August, but the court points out that “there is, in fact, an imminent risk of this public company going into technical bankruptcy”.

The Public Ministry claims that, over the several years, during which transfers were made to vehicle companies belonging to the target groups, Sodiam never received any dividends or participated in the management of companies created abroad, limiting itself to paying the fee. debt with Banco BIC, “which coincidentally is a financial institution where the defendants have a direct interest”.

During all these years, Sodiam had “many difficulties” in fulfilling its obligations contracted with Banco BIC and was on the verge of bankruptcy

For this reason, a reinforcement of treasury was made through the Ministry of Finance, in order to proceed with the payment of 2/3 of the debt.

“However, the Ministry of Finance will no longer be able to help pay the debt due to the economic crisis that the country is experiencing” and even asked the public company to return all the amounts already borrowed in the amount of US $ 28.8 million. , the document also states.

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