dimanche 19 janvier 2020

Isabel dos Santos: Africa's richest woman 'ripped off Angola'

Isabel dos Santos: Africa's richest woman 'ripped off Angola' (BBC)

Quote:

Leaked documents reveal how Africa's richest woman made her fortune through exploiting her own country, and corruption.

Isabel dos Santos got access to lucrative deals involving land, oil, diamonds and telecoms when her father was president of Angola, a southern African country rich in natural resources.

The documents show how she and her husband were allowed to buy valuable state assets in a series of suspicious deals.

Ms Dos Santos says the allegations against her are entirely false and that there is a politically motivated witch-hunt by the Angolan government.
Gee, I wonder where she got the idea to use that defense? ;)
There's a lot more in the story and it's very clear that her fortune is the result of political corruption. Also, she lives in the UK now. I wonder if anything can be done about that? Perhaps the government of Angola should sue her in UK courts? Could she be arrested and prosecuted or deported to Angola to face justice there?

There's also a NY Times article:
How U.S. Firms Helped Africa’s Richest Woman Exploit Her Country’s Wealth

Quote:

LISBON — It was the party to be seen at during the Cannes Film Festival, where being seen was the whole point. A Swiss jewelry company had rented out the opulent Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, drawing celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Campbell and Antonio Banderas. The theme: “Love on the Rocks.”

Posing for photos at the May 2017 event was Isabel dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman and the daughter of José Eduardo dos Santos, then Angola’s president. Her husband controls the jeweler, De Grisogono, through a dizzying array of shell companies in Luxembourg, Malta and the Netherlands.

But the lavish party was possible only because of the Angolan government. The country is rich in oil and diamonds but hobbled by corruption, with grinding poverty, widespread illiteracy and a high infant mortality rate. A state agency had sunk more than $120 million into the jewelry company. Today, it faces a total loss.
Thirty per cent of Angolans live in poverty on less than $2 a day. Meanwhile, the country's wealth is being plundered by corrupt politicians.


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