Angola: businessman close to Dos Santos arrested for corruption

A businessman linked to former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos and accused of corruption was arrested on Tuesday as part of an anti-corruption campaign which mainly targets the former power.

Angolan Attorney General Alvaro Da Silva Joao announced that Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente had been taken into preventive detention after being interrogated for a day and buildings and money seized.

So far, the businessman has denied the charges against him.

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Married to a daughter of former President Dos Santos, Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente led a group of firms that sold insurance contracts to Sonangol, Angola's national oil company.

José Eduardo dos Santos is often accused of appointing relatives and members of his family to important positions while he was in power between 1979 and 2017. Only a small elite benefited during this period from the wealth generated by the Angola's vast oil and mining reserves.

The former president has since moved abroad with most of his family.

The interrogation of Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente

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, said the attorney general in a statement .

Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente was taken to Viana prison in Luanda where he will be detained pending further proceedings, the attorney general said.

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In 2018, Swiss prosecutors seized $ 900 million (€ 769 million) from accounts held by Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente, as part of an investigation into money laundering activities.

Earlier this month, Angolan justice, investigating corruption charges, seized buildings and hotels belonging to one of Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente's companies, AAA Seguros.

Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente appears to be the latest target in an anti-corruption campaign led by Angolan President Joao Lourenço, which mainly targets the family of his predecessor Dos Santos.

Last August, José Filomeno dos Santos, son of the former head of state, was sentenced to five years in prison for embezzling oil funds from Angola's sovereign wealth fund, which he oversaw from 2013 to 2018. Her half-sister Isabel dos Santos is being investigated into a long list of accusations of mismanagement, embezzlement and money laundering relating to the time she administered Sonangol.

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