Africa-Press – Angola. The trial of generals Manuel Vieira Dias “Kopelipa” and Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento “Dino” resumed this Monday, at the Supreme Court, with the Public Prosecutor’s Office accusing the defendants of defrauding the Angolan State of billions of dollars over the years.
The process, which has 38 declarants and witnesses, began on December 10, 2024, but was postponed by rapporteur Anabela Valente, who rescheduled it for March 10, 2025.
In addition to the two generals, defendants include Fernando Gomes dos Santos, Yiu Haiming and the companies China International Fund (CIF), Plansmart International Limited and Utter Right International Limited.
They are accused of embezzlement, fraud, document forgery, criminal association, abuse of power, money laundering and influence peddling.
For more than four hours, the Public Prosecutor’s Office accused them of practices contrary to the Angolan legal system that led to the signing of public contracts for their own benefit.
He stressed that loan agreements were signed with foreign companies on behalf of the State which ended up in the pockets of the accused.
They acted, the Public Prosecutor’s Office accused, in full awareness that public revenues could not be deducted, especially when it came to granting a loan, which was not even included within the scope of their duties.
After reading the indictment, the reporting judge Anabela Valente concluded in her statement that there was sufficient evidence of authorship and materiality of the crimes exposed.
Defense
However, the trial began with a stalemate, with the Public Prosecutor’s Office having read the indictment before preliminary questions from the defendants’ lawyers.
Benja Satula, one of the defense lawyers, said that what was at stake was “ a misinterpretation of the law because the preliminary questions are prior to any procedural formalism”, that is, the “preliminary questions are prior to the reading of the documents in the case”.
On the other hand, in statements to the press, he appeared confident and calm about dominating the process and the accusation having been known since 2020.
In 2020, generals “Dino” and “Kopelipa” had to hand over to the State several companies and buildings owned by their companies CIF and Cochan, SA, including cement and beer factories, a supermarket chain and residential buildings.
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