Angolan Ex-President’s Son To Do Jail Time

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 08:39 am

Jailtime for the Former President’s Son

Billionaire behind bars, Jose Filomeno dos Santos, son of the former president who ruled Angola for 38 years, was sentenced to five years in prison by the nation’s Supreme Court in Luanda on Friday for a multi-billion dollar embezzlement scheme attempting to transfer to $1.5 billion into a private Swiss bank account from the sovereign wealth fund – which he oversaw for 5 years from 2013.

Three of his co-defendants — including the former governor of the national bank of Angola (BNA) Valter Filipe da Silva, received sentences of 3-6 years for similar crimes of fraud, embezzlement and influence peddling.

Political “Witchhunt”?

Zenu, as he is known, is the first to be persecuted from this presidential family as part of an anti-graft campaign led by current President João Lourenço – who came to power in 2017. A second family member might follow suit as in February, Angolan investigators froze the assets of Zenu’s billionaire half-sister Isabel dos Santos as she is being probed for a lengthy list of crimes — namely mismanagement, embezzlement and money laundering during her stewardship of the state-run oil giant Sonangol.

(AFP)