Isabel dos Santos Denies Trying to Escape the Law in Angola

In an exclusive interview with DW, she said she is prepared to face corruption charges related to the source of her personal wealth. “I’m not hiding. I’m on social media every day. My whereabouts and place of residence are known,” dos Santos said. INTERPOL last week issued a warrant for her arrest on the request of Angola’s public prosecutors, according to a report by the LUSA news agency. The report said INTERPOL ordered dos Santos to be found, arrested and extradited to face charges in Angola. The allegations against dos Santos include embezzlement, fraud, influence peddling and money laundering. The 49-year-old billionaire businesswoman is the eldest child of the country’s late former president, Eduardo dos Santos. Dos Santos was once ranked the richest woman in Africa with a fortune estimated at more than $2 billion. The Angolan judiciary began investigating the dos Santos clan after the resignation of Eduardo dos Santos in 2017. Among the allegations leveled against Isabel dos Santos is the embezzlement of over $200 million in public funds during her time as head of the state oil company Sonangol. In 2020, more than 715,000 emails, contracts and memos were made public as part of the so-called Luanda Leaks expose by the New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). The documents disclosed conflicts of interest and nepotism of the former Angolan presidential family.
 SOURCE: DW