A court order has been issued in Angola to freeze assets held by former president Eduardo dos Santos’ daughter, Isabel, her husband and a business associate as part of a corruption probe, a copy of the order seen by Reuters shows.
The asset freeze follows an injunction application by the government, which is seeking to recover around $1 billion of funds that it says it is owed by Isabel dos Santos and her associates.
It is one of the highest-profile moves in an anti-corruption drive launched by President Joao Lourenço, who ended dos Santos’ nearly 40-year grip on power when he took leadership in 2017.
Isabel dos Santos, who owns stakes in companies including telecoms firm Unitel and financial firms, has denied wrongdoing during her father’s time in office.
“I would like to leave a message of tranquility and confidence to my teams,” she tweeted on Monday. “We will continue, every day, in every business, doing our best and fighting for what I believe in for Angola. The road is long, the truth will prevail. United we stand stronger.”
Ranked as Africa’s wealthiest woman by Forbes, Isabel dos Santos chaired the state oil company Sonangol – a crucial pillar of Angola’s oil-dependent economy – before being sacked by Lourenço in late 2017.
The court order, dated Dec. 23, said the asset freezes applied to Isabel dos Santos, her husband, Sindika Dokolo, and Mário Filipe Moreira Leite da Silva, chairman of Banco Fomento Angola (BFA).
