"Sonangol refutes all the accusations that are directed against it, as they are false," said the oil company.
In a note, the company also stressed that "the allegations presented in the said complaint are being discussed at its own headquarters, namely, within the scope of the various judicial, criminal and civil proceedings, involving Mr. Mário Filipe Moreira Leiteda Silva and his associates , Mrs. Eng.ª Isabel José dos Santos and Dr. Sindika Dokolo, whose underlying investigations are in the public domain ".
The company waits "serenely" for the outcome of the ongoing legal proceedings, but assured that "it remains naturally available to provide all clarifications, in addition to those already provided in the aforementioned proceedings, which may be requested by the competent authorities in relation to the alleged complaints. "by Mário Leite da Silva.
As well as, regarding "the conduct of himself and his associates", Isabel dos Santos and Sindika Dokolo, "before Sonangol, in particular, during the time period invoked in the alleged complaint".
The company stressed that it became aware of the alleged complaint, directed by Mário Leite da Silva to several credit institutions, central banks, bank regulators and even to the European Parliament's Legal Affairs and Petitions committees, through the media.
The former adviser to businesswoman Isabel dos Santos at Sonangol complained to international regulators about a "false contract" that would have damaged the oil company by 193 million euros in 2005.
"This contract is false and was brought to official knowledge by the Angolan Public Prosecutor's Office in a foreclosure proceeding against the people of Isabel dos Santos and her husband Sindika Dokolo and against me," wrote Mário Leite da Silva, in the complaint addressed to international regulators, including Banco de Portugal, to which the Lusa agency had access on 23 September.
The Portuguese manager, who was chairman of the Board of Directors of Banco de Fomento Angola when the businesswoman controlled the institution, said he was aware of the "false contract" by analyzing documents he made after being the subject of a civil lawsuit brought by the court.
At stake is Sonangol's agreement - then led by Manuel Vicente, who would become vice-president of Angola, under the presidency of José Eduardo dos Santos - 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 percent to the oil company and the remaining 40 percent 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 the court, 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 accused the Public Ministry of acting "in surrogacy" to Sonangol's interests in order to obtain, "as it did", the seizure of the assets of Isabel dos Santos, of the businesswoman's husband, the Congolese Sindika Dokolo, and of him own.
Esperaza was acquired in 2006, but the contract for entry into the 'joint venture', which Mário Leite Silva says is false, "has a date of November 30, 2005" and will have allowed the withdrawal of the 193 million euros from Sonangol.
"The people who appear to sign the said 'contract' on behalf of Esperaza (Fernando Santos, at the legal responsible date of Sonangol and Francisco Lemos José Maria, at that time, financial director of Sonangol who was later appointed chairman of the board of this company state) had no employment relationship and / or powers of representation conferred by ABN AMRO Special Corporate Services BV, in Esperaza on 30 November 2005 or any date before 30 January 2006 ", wrote Leite da Silva, referring to to the moment when Sonangol entered the share capital of Esperaza.
"Since the fake supply contract contains the signature of the people who signed on behalf of Esperaza - not including their name at the place of the respective signatures (Fernando Santos and Francisco Lemos José Maria) we were able to prove that they were the ones who compared the signatures of the alleged supply 'contract' with other documents they signed ", added the manager.
In the same document, the manager stressed that the "contract" in question "incorporates the crime of forgery of document and use of false document" and indicates the "illegal withdrawal of public funds from Sonangol" and the practice of crimes of appropriation - embezzlement, abuse of trust or fraud - economic participation in business, "as well as the laundering of the respective values".
"I was never aware, directly or indirectly, of the existence of that contract (...) I became aware in 2020 of the existence of this document", he wrote.
The complaint also referred that the disbursements provided for in the contract in question "whose value amounts to 193,465,406.23 euros" were "fully" made but that "the evidence of the underlying bank movements was not included in the foreclosure process ... at the same ".
In the letter sent to the regulators, Leite Silva claims to have led on the side of Amorim Holding II SGPS S.A. the blindfold Esperaza to Angolan shareholders in 2006.
The 19-page letter signed by Mário Leite da Silva was sent from Lisbon on September 11 to Banco de Portugal, Banco Nacional de Angola, De Nederlandsche Bank, European Central Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Banco Comercial Português, Bankof America, Standard Chartered Bank and the European Parliament.
The complainant asked for an "enhanced investigation" and urgent "to be made to the circumstances that give context to the emergence of the said 'contract', in order to investigate acts of an illegal nature and who were responsible".
The letter included more than a dozen attached documents, including the contract between Sonangol and Esperaza that Leite da Silva says was "false".
Lusa tried to get more explanations from the manager, but Mário Leite da Silva declined to comment.
