Angola ’ s ex -president has defended his son and a former central bank governor who are accused of embezzling $ 500 million from the country’ s sovereign wealth fund , court documents showed on Tuesday .

Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ family are in the spotlight after his billionaire daughter was indicted in Angola last month for a host of high- level financial crimes in the oil -rich nation .

The ex -leader ’ s son, Jose Filomeno dos Santos, is accused of embezzling $ 500 million ( 460 million euros ) from state coffers during his tenure as head of Angola ’ s sovereign fund.

He is charged alongside the former governor of the national bank of Angola , Valter Filipe da Silva, and two others .

The four defendants are accused of transferring the funds to a Swiss bank during the dos Santos presidency , in a case that has rocked the powerful former first family.

But the former leader , who currently lives in Spain , said the transfer was meant to guarantee a $ 30 billion investment into Angola to “ improve the life of the population ”.

“ I authorised the transfer of the $ 500 million , ” Santos said in a written response to questions sent to him by judges and read in court on Tuesday.

“ The actions were carried out for the country ’ s economic situation … not in the personal interest of the people who executed it , ” he added in the statement dated February 6 .

The judge accepted the ex -president ’ s response despite complaints by the prosecution that the document was not original and was only signed on the final page .

Jose Filomeno dos Santos, nicknamed “ Zenu ” , is the first member of the ex -president ’ s family to be prosecuted.
Both Zenu and da Silva have denied the allegations .

“ These acts were part of the mandate that was given by the former president , ” da Silva’ s lawyer Sergio Raimundo told reporters after the hearing .

In all , Zenu is accused of trying to steal as much as $ 1 . 5 billion ( 1 . 38 billion euros ) during his 2013 -2018 stewardship of Angola ’ s sovereign fund .

The trial is taking place alongside allegations against Isabel dos Santos, the ultra – wealthy daughter of the ex – leader who is accused of money laundering and influence peddling.

The charges against her followed the January publication by international media outlets of a probe dubbed “ Luanda Leaks ” that claimed she fraudulently accumulated a fortune estimated at $ 2 . 1 billion ( 1 . 9 billion euros )

Resource-rich Angola is ranked 146 out of 180 countries on Transparency International ’ s corruption perceptions index .

Most of the country’ s 30 million people live in poverty , failing to benefit from the flood of dollars from crude oil and diamonds .

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday lauded Angolan President Joao Lourenco ’ s anti-corruption drive , which has seen him pursue the dos Santos family.

Source:- AFP

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