Africano Gamboa, who took office as interim director of Senra, replacing Eduarda Rodrigues, who was dismissed in September, stated that the repatriation of assets is “the greatest concern” of this service, requiring a more externally focused activity.
“It is true that the processes continue to flow, therefore, all of Senra’s activities will continue to be developed, but today, unequivocally, the greatest concern, the challenge that arises the most, is related to the repatriation of assets”, he stressed.
According to the new interim director of Senra, the State has demanded from other States and judicial counterparts “what is basically compliance with international dictates”, contained in the conventions ratified by Angola and the other States with which the country has relations.
“What we intend to do now is no different. The current situation demands certain changes that we, as promised, will make with all due care and dedication”, said Africano Gamboa, adding that “these are changes that are specific to the current situation in the country.
According to the acting director of Senra, the asset recovery process has distinct phases, which include the location, discovery and effective repatriation of lost assets to the State.
In a brief message to the new heads of the Attorney General’s Office who were sworn in this Tuesday, the Attorney General, Helder Pitta Grós, said that Eduarda Rodrigues is leaving her position as director of Senra to become an advisor to the Attorney General, as it is necessary to adopt a new strategy.
“The term as director of asset recovery services has come to an end, not only because of the time she has already served in the role, but also because of the need to adopt a new strategy in approaching asset recovery, as well as a new ‘modus operandi’”, said Hélder Pitta Gróz.
“She had the privilege of creating Senra and raising its performance to a high level, both nationally and internationally”, said the also president of the Superior Council of the Public Prosecutor's Office, praising the performance of Eduarda Rodrigues.
Eduarda Rodrigues was dismissed last September and several criticisms arose about her performance as director of Senra, in particular from the defense of businessman Carlos São Vicente, convicted in 2022 of embezzlement, tax fraud and money laundering.
Carlos São Vicente's lawyers have reported that Eduarda Rodrigues allegedly visited the businessman in prison, trying to convince him to hand over all his assets to the State, which he refused.
Before her dismissal, Eduarda Rodrigues, who had been the head of Senra since 2018, the entity created to manage the process of recovering illegally misappropriated Angolan State assets, had already been the subject of a criminal complaint by lawyer Joao Gourgel for alleged “misappropriation or diversion of evidentiary documents”, as reported by Lusa in May.
The authorities have been trying to recover assets allegedly obtained illegally, appealing to other countries, including Portugal, for the return of these assets.
Last month, the President demanded the return of almost two billion dollars to several nations, and considered that “it is time to demand that the various States, which were the destinations of the illicitly acquired resources”, join Angola's effort and “make available these resources that belong to the Angolan people so that they can be placed at the service of the national economy”.
