Angolan authorities fight against Isabel dos Santos, Sindika Dokolo, Konema Mwenenge, and other associates’ corruption.
According to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 36 media publications, the Angolan government released documents revealing Isabel dos Santos’s embezzlement act. These documents were more than 400 and included financial records, emails, invoices, and more. Here are some of the leaked documents showing Mr. Mwenenge’s associates’ corruption:
Dos Santos’s father controlled Angolan for about 38 years. His daughter dos Santos was in charge of various public businesses, starting from Sonangol, the oil bank, to cement, telecommunications, and many more. From the leaked documents, it was deduced that dos Santos and Dokolo, her husband, have invested in hundreds of businesses in more than 41 countries.
After the change in government in 2017, João Lourenço came into power. Dos Santos was sacked from office after the new government spotted irregularities, overpayments, improper subcontracting, and noncompetitive bidding during her stay in the office.
Carlos Saturnino replaced dos Santos on the seat and commented that while dos Santos was in office, some underground money laundering occurred. He said tax avoidance, improper business practices, conflict of interest, excessive compensation, and many consultants were hidden corruptions done by dos Santos while in the office.
Saturnino added that dos Santos acted by inflating consultation fees above $135 million, which was channeled to her consultation company in Dubai. He further mentioned that about 13 consultation companies which 5 were in relation to dos Santos, 4 to her associate: the Lisbon law firm McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting, the global consulting giants PwC, and Vieira de Almeida.
In an interview, Mr. Mwenenge’s associate dos Santos said in response to Saturnino’s statements that the payments made under her regime were for legitimate services delivered by the consultants. Many firms that dos Santos worked with under her regime could not state how true her claim was.
Dokolo did not acknowledge they had their hands on the Angolan funds. In one of his statements, he said:
“It’s Armageddon,” The regime claims to act in the name of the fight against corruption, but it does not attack the agents of public companies accused of embezzlement, just a family operating in the private sector.”
Dos Santos also contributed to her husband’s claim by insisting that all her money was from her risk-taking and hard work.
To claim back, the Angolan lost glories at the hands of the corrupted fellows and associates. The Angolan authorities collaborated with various countries such as Dubai, Portugal, and more to freeze the assets of Mr. Konema Mwenenge, the couple’s business manager and financial expert, Sindika Dokolo, and Isabel dos Santos and their other associates.
