Africa-Press – Angola. The former chairman of the Board of Directors of Seguradora AAA, Carlos de São Vicente, was sentenced this Thursday by the Luanda District Court to nine years in prison and to be returned to the Angolan State, as compensation, 4.5 billion US dollars.
During the reading of the sentence, the judge of the case, Edson Escrivão, explained that the sentence results from a set of crimes, with emphasis on embezzlement, money laundering, as well as conducting business with himself, within the AAA Insurer, of which he was owner, causing the diversion of public funds.
“For the crimes committed, the penal framework varies between eight and 11 years of effective imprisonment, and, as I have no criminal record, we decided to set the penalty at nine years of effective imprisonment, being obliged to return to the Angolan State the amount of 4.5 billion dollars, and also a 200-day fine, due to the 250,000 kwanzas of the court fee”, explained the judge.
According to the judge in the case, the assets acquired by the defendant, illegally, during his consulate, from public funds, which gave rise to several companies, located inside and outside the country, will have the Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Angolan State.
The judge in the case explained that for approximately 20 years, the businessman had control of the insurance and reinsurance market of Sonangol, where he set up a triangular scheme with several companies between Angola, London and Bermuda, generating widespread losses to the Angolan State estimated at more than 1 , $5 billion in tax breaks. According to the file, when an insured contracted him, through the AAA in Angola, the entrepreneur made contracts with other companies of the same group abroad, evading taxes in Angola.
The court also revealed that Carlos de São Vicente did not share the profits resulting from the business with other insurance companies, with emphasis on ENSA, Sonangol, even with the Angolan State itself.
During the trial, Carlos de São Vicente, dressed in sportswear, was visibly calm and limited himself to hugging his wife Irene Neto and close family members, who attended the trial at the Luanda District Court.
The judge assisting the case, Patrícia de Araújo Pereira, said that the court referred the offices of the former President of the Republic of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, and his Vice-President, Manuel Domingos Vicente, as they were considered essential witnesses for the clarification. of the case, however, until the closing date of the process, he had not received any statement from the two deponents.
Carlos de São Vicente, according to the court’s pronouncement, is the holder of a fortune valued at more than three billion dollars.
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