The judge had already been referred to in a letter dated September 10, to which Lusa had access, signed by the presidents of the board of directors and the executive board of Banco Económico (ex-Banco Espírito Santo de Angola) and addressed to the president of CSMJ, Joel Leonardo, asking him to assess the magistrate's conduct.
In a press release, the CSMJ explains that Regina de Sousa will have addressed on October 2 to the Economic Bank (BE), "personally", to demand the execution of a decision she issued - which is not mentioned - claiming to have received guidance to that effect from the presidents of the CSMJ and the Supreme Court.
"Such guidance has never been given," the note notes, pointing out that the standing committee of the CSMJ and its president distance themselves from the actions of the judge against whom disciplinary proceedings have been initiated.
In a statement to Lusa, Regina Sousa confirmed that she had been notified, but said she could not comment on the case.
The complaint the BE addressed to the president of the CSMJ in September stated that all the proceedings filed against the bank have been handed over to Regina Sousa, of the Luanda Provincial Court, and questioned her conduct.
"Being a mere coincidence, or not, there are some traits in the conduct of the aforementioned magistrate, which this institution considers partial and detrimental to its interests and the interests of the Angolan state, considering that this institution is majority owned by Sonangol EP, the largest public company in the country," reads the letter.
The BE points out the request for attachment of the accounts of José Walter António Pontes, in 2018 - which the bank was unable to execute because there were not "sufficient amounts" - and the court then requested the transfer of the amounts to the account of the company Sukulider - Comercial, domiciled at Banco de Fomento Angola, referring to the existence of an executive process.
In the letter, the bank points out that it never had access to the process, whose number was not in the letters sent by the court, despite several diligencias with the institution.
On 7 August 2019, the bank will have received a request from the law firm ATM, claiming the execution of the sentence, to which it replied that José Pontes had "credit liabilities", having authorised the BE to "deduct the amount owed from its bank accounts in the event of default by the principal debtor".
He also said that the defendant had signed, on behalf of the civil construction and public works company Centro Cerro Angola, a contract to open credit in the form of a guaranteed loan account, in the amount of approximately USD 244 million, "which was restructured on 12 May 2017," with José Pontes assuming payment of the debt.
In addition to this contract, José Pontes would also be the guarantor of another contract with Imolap - Sociedade Imobiliária Lar do Patriota, in the amount of 25 million dollars, existing in relation to its suspicious money laundering and terrorist financing accounts, being the rule in these cases "the account not to be moved".
The BE states that the judge is involved in a similar case - elaboration of an office without there being a process - involving the businessman Mello Xavier.
On December 23, 2019, BE will have been cited for an injunction requested by Anjog, Ocean Private and InvestLeader, which it contested, and the evidence hearing was scheduled for April 21, 2020.
The hearing was adjourned at the outset by Regina Sousa, on the pretext that the President of the Supreme Court would travel there to deal with the case and resumed two days later.
On that day, the parties' representatives were informed again that the president of the Supreme Court would handle the case.
"Throughout the process, the Honorable Judge was biased, rejecting an appeal from our representatives because she decided to hear a witness that the other party had not enrolled in a timely manner", highlights the letter from BE
The judge also allegedly requested a judicial inspection of the BE to which experts from the National Bank of Angola were notified, a report that was delivered to the court in June 2020, but is not in the file, according to the bank.
The BE's lawyers appealed the ruling, and the judge said that the attorneys "falsified the case when they brought it to their confidence," which the bank disputes, guaranteeing that they "never had it in their possession.
On August 15, according to the BE, the judge reportedly called the lawyers' office to establish "the bridge between the office and the court" and was told that "all communications with the court would have to be in writing".
The BE complains that the judge considered the bank's appeal to be "deserted" (i.e., abandoned), without any grounds and asks the CSMJ to "take the necessary steps to restore legality to the process".
