Angola issues arrest warrant against Isabel Dos Santos, richest woman in Africa
The Global Policy Agency Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant against Isabel Dos Santos, who happens to be the richest woman in Africa and daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduador Dos Santos.
She was accused of alleged mismanagement and embezzlement of public funds while she headed the state’s oil company, Sonango. She is also accused of corruption, fraud and money laundering by the Angolan authorities and the amount mentioned is over 5 billion USD.
The Attorny General of the Republic of Angola, Helder Pitta who addressed journalists in Luanda after a meeting at his office council on November 28th 2022, confirmed the information and says the warrant of arrest was issued after the business woman failed to respond to several notifications that were sent to her by the court.
He noted that all attempts to notify her of the charges for questioning at her residence in Luanda failed and she reportedly also refused to sign the notification sent to her before leaving the country:
“We always insisted that she should respond to the notifications. For years now we have been giving her an opportunity to respond. We did not want to rush anything but after four years of having the process stopped, we decided to move forward”.
He says the process against her will proceed as Angolan authorities are working with Interpol to track her down:
“The AG’s office is working with the Interpol which has the mission to disseminate the warrant in all the countries that are part of this international police station”.
Reacting to the accusations, Isabel dos Sanctus denied the allegations and assured that they are politically motivated prosecutions. In an interview with New York Times, she says she is available for interrogations:
“My address is known, my going out and coming is also known… I’m not fugitive, I’m not hiding from anyone . I am living in London,” Portuguese News Agency, Lusa, reported.
According to reports, Dos Santos has faced corruption accusations since 2018. In 2019, a Luanda Court declared a preventive seizure of all her personal bank accounts.
Dos Santos’ father, Jose Eduardor died in July this year and had ruled Angola for almost four decades until 2017.
