Mr José Filomeno dos Santos (Zenu). FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The Swiss investment group linked to Angola’s $5 million
sovereign wealth fund scandal has accused Luanda authorities of
intimidation.
The Financial Times on Monday reported the Quantum Global lament, following the arrest of its founder, Mr Jean Claude Bastos de Morais, in Angola.
Mr
Morais was arrested last week, alongside his business associate, Mr
Filomeno dos Santos. The latter is the son of former Angolan President
Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
Filomeno dos Santos is at the
centre of the suspect transfer of $500 million from the Angolan
sovereign fund, which he once headed.
The money was allegedly transferred from the Angolan Reserve Bank to the Credit Suisse Bank in the UK.
Enough evidence
The Attorney General's Office in Luanda said the arrests followed investigations into the operations of the sovereign fund.
A
statement from the AG's office said that although the investigations
were continuing, there already was enough evidence implicating the two
defendants.
“Quantum Global, which was already locked
in a dispute with the wealth fund, said on Monday that it denounced
intimidation, coercion and abuse of human rights by the Angolan
government in the arrest of Jean-Claude Bastos de Morais last week,” the
Financial Times reported.
It added: “Quantum
Global said that Mr Bastos was detained over the alleged $500m scheme
despite never having been accused of wrongdoing in connection with it.
“Quantum
Global believes that the measures to constrain Mr Bastos were designed
to force him to give up his rights and to surrender all assets and funds
under the management of the group.”
Eldest daughter
Angolan authorities last March barred Filomeno dos Santos from leaving the country over fraud charges.
President
João Lourenço has since his election last year embarked on an
anti-corruption crusade that has seen several close associates of his
predecessor implicated in wrongdoings.
He took over following an election marking the end of President dos Santos's 38-year reign.
President Lourenço sacked Filomeno dos Santos as the head of the strategic sovereign fund in January.
The
president also sacked Isabel dos Santos, the former president’s eldest
daughter, as the chair of the board of the state-owned oil firm
Sonangol.
Ms Isabel dos Santos, who is Africa’s richest woman, faces several graft investigations.
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