Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos is appealing against court orders in Angola and Portugal which led to her assets being frozen, and claims the state used false evidence to obtain the freezing orders. Since 2018 the Angolan government has been trying to prosecute Dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, for corruption. She is accused of embezzling $1-billion from a state-owned oil firm, Sonangol. Dos Santos said in a statement on Tuesday that a copy of a fake passport was used to fabricate evidence in the Angolan courts during proceedings leading to the freezing of her assets and companies. She said the passport had multiple errors, including being signed by “Bruce Lee” as the issuing authority. Dos Santos claimed the Angolan prosecution also relied on emails regarding a scam investment in Japan. She said the emails and fake passport were used before chambers by the Angolan prosecutor – without her or her lawyers present to contest the allegations – as supporting evidence that she was trying to dissipate her assets quickly and then illegally invest the proceeds outside Angola.
SOURCE: TIMES LIVE
