Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos charged with fraud

Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, has been accused of embezzlement and money laundering by prosecutors in Angola.

According to Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros, she is being accused of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure as chairwoman of state oil firm at Sonangol.

“Isabel dos Santos is accused of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure at Sonangol and is thus charged in the first instance with the crimes of money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management … forgery of documents, among other economic crimes, ” Mr Pitta Gros told a news conference on Wednesday evening.

Documents leaked this week alleged the daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, dubbed Africa’s richest woman, who currently lives in UK, embezzled state funds to build her fortune, estimated at $2.1 billion (1.82 billion euros).

Isabel dos Santos is accused of using her father’s backing to plunder state funds from the oil-rich but poor southern African country and moving the money abroad with the help of Western firms.

She stopped living in Angola after her father, who ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 40 years, stepped down in 2017 for his anointed successor Joao Lourenco.

Ms Dos Santos recently denied alleged corruption revealed by leaked documents, she had also told the BBC she was considering running for Angola’s presidency.