The Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Grós, stated yesterday, in Luanda, that the process involving the management of businesswoman Isabel dos Santos at the head of the state oil company Sonangol is almost concluded and will soon be brought to court
According to the Attorney General of the Republic, who spoke on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony for new magistrates, the body responsible for criminal proceedings in Angola has, among several cases under investigation, one that is already in the final stage. “It is the process that concerns the management of Sonangol. Within days, it will be sent to court”, guaranteed Hélder Pitta Grós.
In addition to the process in relation to Isabel dos Santos’ management at the head of the state oil company, there is also another file, the content of which was not specified by the attorney general, which also involves the Angolan businesswoman — who has been out of court for several years. country —, which should be sent to court in the first quarter of the current year. Hélder Pitta Grós highlighted that the investigative process is not always easy, especially when you are held hostage by third parties to obtain evidence.
“As you know, criminal investigation is not always easy and, when we depend on third parties to obtain some means of evidence, the delays end up being greater than what we would like”, he stated, guaranteeing that, despite the difficulties, the PGR is to be able to respond well to processes that were already coming from previous years.
The motto of the process
At issue is the case relating to a complaint about the transfer of more than 38 million dollars to companies controlled by Isabel dos Santos, after she was dismissed from her position as president of the board of directors of Sonangol, a state-owned oil company. Isabel dos Santos is involved in legal proceedings in several jurisdictions, including Portugal, and has been the subject of an Interpol “red alert” since 2022, following a request from Angola for her location and provisional detention.
Former Vice President
The Angolan Attorney General of the Republic highlighted that the body he heads continues to work on the process involving the former vice-president of Angola Manuel Vicente, “since immunities have already been lifted and the process has expired the deadline granted by law” , remembered. “Now let’s get on with it and let’s see how long we can or won’t be able to complete it,” he stressed. Manuel Vicente was protected by Angolan immunity law for public office holders, and is now limited to that protection for five years, after the end of his duties, a period that expired in September last year.
In 2018, the criminal case initiated in Portugal, known as “operation Fizz”, in which the former Angolan vice-president was accused of having allegedly corrupted the Portuguese prosecutor Orlando Figueira, caused an ‘irritation’ in relations between the two countries , which was resolved after the case relating to Manuel Vicente was transferred to Angola. According to the Attorney General of the Republic, Hélder Pitta Grós, the Angolan PGR continues to work together with the Swiss authorities “and the exchange of correspondence has been frequent”, he clarified.
It is recalled that the PGR recently reported that actions to prevent and combat crime, with emphasis on crimes of embezzlement, money laundering and other related crimes, allowed the recovery of financial and non-financial assets worth around 2 billion dollars, in 2023 alone.
Still in relation to the same type of crimes, this State body guarantees the taxation of criminal actions, the defense of the rights of natural and legal persons, the legality of the judicial function and the supervision of legality, it worked on 530 criminal cases and 653 investigation processes, at a time when the institution admitted 17 new public prosecutors to its staff, bringing its total to 634.
