Mauritius has frozen bank accounts linked to Angola’s “people’s fund” scandal, Reuters news agency reports.
A BBC investigation in November 2017 revealed that an entrepreneur charged with managing Angola’s oil wealth was paid more than $41m (£29m) through companies set up in Mauritius.
Jean-Claude Bastos, a Swiss-Angolan and close friend of the then-president’s son, was the Angolan sovereign wealth fund’s asset manager.
Reuters says that, following a Mauritius Supreme Court ruling yesterday, their Financial Services Commission suspended the licences for seven funds and froze 25 of its bank accounts for Mr Bastos’ Quantum Global Investment Management.
On Monday, the Mauritian newspaper Le Mauricien reported that a further 33 bank accounts had been frozen, bringing the total to 58.
In a statement, Quantum Global said it was co-operating with the relevant authorities.
“We remain confident and resolute in our ability to defend ourselves vigorously against the unwarranted attacks on our reputation,” Quantum said.
Read more in the so-called Paradise Papers, the leak of financial documents that threw light on the world of offshore finance.
