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- She was once rated the richest woman in Africa, with an estimated net worth of around $3.5 billion at her peak.
- But Isabel dos Santos has fallen from grace to grass following seizures of her assets by authorities in Angola, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States
- Interpol issued an arrest warrant for Dos Santos and arrested him on suspicion of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering.
Once hailed and celebrated as Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos was worth about $3.5 billion at her height, according to Forbes. She had the charisma of a First Lady. Whenever she was in the public eye, she always had a charming smile on her face.
In what appeared to be a movie, Dos Santos lost everything, fell off the Forbes list of billionaires, and became virtually unknown. Fame, respect and, of course, billions of dollars were lost after Angolan authorities claimed they had done so.
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Today, she is wanted by Interpol to answer questions about corruption and embezzlement of public funds.
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growth and education
Born in Baku, Azerbaijan on April 20, 1973, Isabel is the eldest daughter of long-time president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos, and his first wife, Russian-born Tatiana Kukanova. Her father was then an official with the Popular Movement of the Communist League for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and her mother was a chess champion. The two met while studying in Azerbaijan, then under the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR).
After the fall of the Portuguese colonial regime, José Eduardo dos Santos took over as leader of the Free State and the family moved into the presidential palace. When the country plunged into civil war, Isabel went with her mother to England to receive her education.
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A citizen of both Angolan and Russia, Dos Santos attended school in England. Cobham Hall School in Kent, and St He Paul’s Girls School in London. He then enrolled at King’s College in London to study electrical engineering.
How she met her husband, Sindika Dokoro
Dos Santos met her husband while studying at King’s College in London. Sindika is the son of Congolese billionaire Augustin Dokoro Sanu and Danish mother Hanne Kruse.
Dos Santos and Sindika married in 2002 and have three children. A business tycoon and art collector, Sindika and his wife have had careers in a variety of fields, including oil, diamonds, retail, cement and telecommunications.
Sindika died in October 2020 at the age of 48 after a diving accident in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
road to wealth
As the daughter of Angola’s longest ruler, President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled for 38 years (1979-2017), Isabel saw an opportunity to gain significant stakes in Angola’s strategic industries. It is said that
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Through her father’s direct and indirect influence, Dos Santos was able to acquire stakes in many companies that wanted to do business in the oil-rich country. She owned most of Angolan’s banking, diamond, cement and telecommunications industries. She also owns shares in her franchise of satellite television, breweries and supermarkets, and has become Angola’s most influential businesswoman.
Interestingly, more than half of her assets are shares in Portuguese companies, giving her international influence and credibility. She acquired her stake in ZON Multimedia, a Portuguese telecommunications and media company that offers mobile and landlines, cable TV, satellite TV and internet for her $500 million. Her other holdings are:
- Trans Africa Investment Services is a car company founded with her mother for the diamond business based in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar.
- Condis, a retailer based in Luanda, Angola
- Unitel International Holdings BV – company vehicle for investment in Amsterdam-based Dos Santos telecommunications business
- Esperaza Holding BV is an energy and petroleum company based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
- Santoro Finance: a company for dos Santos to invest in Banco BPI, based in Lisbon, Portugal.
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the empire crumbles
Isabel dos Santos’ empire began to crumble after her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, resigned in 2017. The new president, João Lourenço, has vowed to fight corruption in the country.
Two months after taking office, Laurenzo sacked Dos Santos and took over as head of Sonangol, the country’s oil company. In December 2019, an Angolan court froze domestic assets owned by Dos Santos and her husband as part of a corruption probe.
An Angolan court has charged Mrs. Dos Santos with a series of crimes, including embezzlement and money laundering, that she allegedly committed while under the command of state oil giant Sonangol. She and her husband have been accused of managing payments of more than $1 billion (£800,000) from publicly traded companies to companies in which they hold shares before moving out of the country.
In January 2020, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) released a detailed report accusing dos Santos of looting the country’s coffers during his father’s 38-year rule marked by corruption, authoritarianism and nepotism. announced.
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The report, called Luanda Leaks, claims that Dos Santos and her husband were linked to more than 400 companies and subsidiaries in 41 countries, making millions at the expense of the Angolan people.
In 2019-2020, authorities in Angola, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the United States froze the assets and bank accounts of Isabel dos Santos and her husband and launched investigations into her activities.
In her response to all allegations, Dos Santos claims that the allegations against her are political persecution by President Lourenko. She also said the allegations made against her in Luandalik were a focused, organized and well-coordinated political attack.
Interpol issues arrest warrant for Dos Santos
Following a request from the Angola public prosecutor, Interpol issued a red notice against Isabel dos Santos. The Interpol Red Notice alleges that Dos Santos created a corrupt financial mechanism between her 2015 and her 2017 to enrich herself with national resources.
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The “red notice” request asked law enforcement agencies around the world to “identify and provisionally arrest persons pending extradition, extradition, or similar legal action.”
However, Dos Santos, who lives primarily in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates and Portugal, said in an interview with DW that he had not yet been notified of an arrest warrant and was prepared to face corruption charges related to the source of his personal wealth. is made.
Source: Legit.ng
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