Manuel António Rabelais is accused of the crimes of embezzlement on a continuous basis, violation of plan and budget execution rules and money laundering, punishable by more than two years in prison, practiced between 2016 and 2017, as director of the former Grecima.
Grecima, which operated in the era of President José Eduardo dos Santos, was extinguished by the current head of state, João Lourenço.
Earlier this month, TS advisor judge Daniel Modesto announced, in a statement to Angolan state radio, that the conditions were in place for the trial to begin on Wednesday, December 9.
The former ruler, who is also a deputy of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) with a suspended mandate, will be tried in the criminal chamber of the Supreme Court.
At the end of October, the parliament unanimously approved the draft resolution that suspends the MPLA mandate and withdraws the immunity of Manuel Rabelais, at the request of the president of the TS.
The draft resolution concerning the deputy, number 66 in the MPLA's national constituency, was approved with 170 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions, allowing the proceedings against Manuel Rabelais to continue.
Besides the former Minister of Media, who was connected to Palanca TV, Rádio Global, both private bodies now in the state sphere, is enrolled in the process, as a defendant, Hilário Santos, Grecima's administrative assistant at the time.
According to the indictment, known in September 2019, Manuel Rabelais, assisted by Hilário Santos, "transformed Grecima into an authentic currency exchange house, raising companies and individuals to deposit kwanzas in exchange for foreign currency", indicating four companies that deposited amounts in Grecima's account, as well as individuals, of which only seven have already been identified.
Deposits were also made to Grecima accounts domiciled in other commercial banks (BIC, BPC, BAI and SOL).
"It should be noted that, as foreign exchange was acquired at the BNA and provided in the Grecima accounts at the commercial banks, with deposits from companies and individuals," Manuel Rabelais was ordering Hilário Santos to carry out "a plan for the withdrawal, purchase and sale or transfer of the same," reads the document.
The order also states that the defendants transferred out of the country, through BCI bank, a total of more than 16 million euros to 11 companies.
