Africa-Press – Angola. The Court of Appeal of Amsterdam, Netherlands, has condemned Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos for embezzling 52.6 million euros from Sonangol, news agency LUSA reported this Tuesday.
According to the court, the businesswoman illegally ordered, using forged documents, the transfer of dividends from the Esperanza – holding company, owned by Sonangol, to a company of its own.
The decision was dictated by the Business Chamber, a special department of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, which concluded that the money was diverted from Sonangol through Dutch public limited companies to benefit Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo (deceased in 2020, in Dubai).
The court concluded that the businesswoman signed false resolutions to channel 52.6 million euros in dividends from Esperaza Holding BV to her company and tried to hide the illegal transfers, with dates prior to her resignation as chairman of the Board of Directors of Sonangol , on November 15, 2017.
According to the court, it was established that “every person who signed one or more decrees knew that these were retroactive” and the directors of the company should have realized that Isabel dos Santos was trying to make a quick payment of dividends, through forged resolutions and retroactive.
Isabel dos Santos and some of her collaborators were convicted of mismanagement and forgery of documents.
At issue is the fact that justice has proven that Isabel dos Santos, on the day she was exonerated, gave orders for the transfer of part of the dividends from Esperaza, which holds an indirect stake in Galp.
In the process, Mário Leite da Silva, former right-hand man of the businesswoman, and the financial administrator at Sonangol, Sarju Raikundalia, were also found guilty.
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