Ex-head of Angola’s SWF held on corruption charge

The former head of Angola’s sovereign wealth fund and son of the previous president has been remanded in custody on charges in a USD 1.5-billion corruption case, international media reported Monday.

“Given the complexity and seriousness of the deeds and in order to guarantee an effective enquiry… the state prosecution service decided to apply a preventive detention measure to those accused,” prosecutor-general Alvaro da Silva João said in a statement quoted by AFP.

In March the Angolan prosecutor general’s office charged José Filomeno dos Santos, son of former President José Eduardo dos Santos and former head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund, with fraud.

President João Lourenço had removed José Filomeno dos Santos as head of the sovereign wealth fund in January. President Lourenço also removed Isabel dos Santos from her post as head of Sonangol in November 2017. She had been appointed as head of Sonangol by her father in June 2016, after the company’s board was sacked by presidential decree.