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Manuel Vicente alleges that denouncing Sonangol's appropriation of money is a diversion

Former Vice President Manuel Vicente denied having appropriated 193 million euros from Sonangol, as the former manager of Isabel dos Santos denounced, and calls the charge "an unseemly diversion".

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Former adviser to businesswoman Isabel dos Santos at Sonangol, Mário Leite da Silva, complained to international regulators about a "fake contract" that would have hurt the oil company by 193 million euros in 2005, saying the document is part of the process seizure of assets by Isabel dos Santos, her husband Sindika Dokolo and himself.

In a note sent to Lusa, Manuel Vicente repudiates and denies the accusation and says that "the imputation clearly false" is "illustrative of the bad faith and / or the unconfessed interests of its authors", adding that he will react to the complaint.

The current MPLA deputy and former Sonangol president adds that it is not the first time that "in this apparent and unfortunate setting, false and serious attacks" have appeared and that they are nothing more than "unseemly maneuvers of amusement".

Manuel Vicente also considers that it is being used in "other people's communication and procedural defense strategies", in a reference to the processes in which Isabel dos Santos, her husband and some employees are targeted.

Mário Leite da Silva, who was chairman of the board of directors of Banco de Fomento Angola when the businesswoman controlled the institution, claims to have been aware of the "false contract" by analyzing documents he made after being the subject of a civil lawsuit brought by the court Angolan.

At stake is Sonangol's agreement, then led by Manuel Vicente, with Amorim Energia to enter Galp's capital. To this end, Sonangol established the Esperaza joint-venture with Exem Energy, owned by Isabel dos Santos, with 60 per cent to the oil company and the remaining 40 per cent to the businesswoman. Subsequently, Esperaza holds 45 percent of the capital of Amorim Energia, a holding that has a 33.34 percent stake in the Portuguese oil company. Indirectly, Angolans thus control 15 percent of Galp.

According to Angolan justice, Esperaza's initial capital, amounting to 193 million euros, was invested in its entirety by the oil company, which claims in court the amount owed that would correspond to the part of the businesswoman.

Leite da Silva accuses the Angolan Public Prosecutor's Office of acting "in surrogacy" to Sonangol's interests in order to obtain, "as he did", the seizure of the assets of Isabel dos Santos, of the businesswoman's husband, the Congolese Sindika Dokolo and his own.

In the complaint made to the regulators, the Portuguese manager stresses that the "contract" in question "includes the crime of document forgery and the use of false documents" and indicates the "unlawful withdrawal of public funds from Sonangol" and the practice, on the part of Manuel Vicente, appropriation crimes - embezzlement, abuse of trust or fraud - economic participation in business, "as well as the laundering of the respective values".

The letter signed by Mário Leite da Silva was sent from Lisbon on September 11 to Banco de Portugal, Banco Nacionalde Angola, De Nederlandsche Bank, European Central Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Banco Comercial Português, Bank of America, Standard Chartered Bank and for the European Parliament.

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