The deviations from Sonangol, the participation in Galp, the loan from Unitel, the diamonds from the jewelry, and the land in Luanda. Meet the five businesses exposed at Luanda Leaks.
The diversion of money from Sonangol
- The purchase of the stake in Galp
- The Unitel loan
In 1999, José Eduardo dos Santos granted the license to Unitel, the largest telecommunications company in Angola. In 2000, Isabel dos Santos acquired a 25% stake in the company, a position that is currently valued at US $ 1 billion and which has already guaranteed the company another billion in dividends.
Now, as a shareholder of Unitel, the businesswoman set up a new company, called Unitel International Holdings. Despite having the name “Unitel”, the two companies had no relationship, the latter being totally controlled by Isabel dos Santos.
The businesswoman obtained a loan of $ 350 million from Unitel International Holdings to the real Unitel. And Isabel dos Santos herself gave the loan the “green light” on the side of the company that lent and the one that received the loan, the BBC alleges, which refers to a clear conflict of interest.
The businesswoman guarantees, however, that the loan was approved by the administrations of both companies, and that the loan protected Unitel from possible currency fluctuations.
- Purchasing jewelry
Another suspicious deal involves, more specifically, Sindika Dokolo, Isabel dos Santos’ husband.
According to the BBC, in 2012, Dokolo closed an agreement with the Angolan state-owned company Sodiam, which explores the diamond business, to form a partnership to buy Swiss luxury jewelry De Grisogono. Despite assuming a partnership “in socks”, Sodiam paid the “invoice”.
18 months after the closing of the purchase of De Grisogono, Sodiam had already invested $ 79 million in the partnership, while Isabel dos Santos’ husband had invested only four million. Dokolo benefited from a success fee of five million dollars, so he ended up not having to invest equity.
But Luanda Leaks’ documents exposed an even more damaging deal to Angolan public coffers. In fact, Sodiam paid the jewelry using a loan from the Portuguese bank EuroBic with 9% interest and with a state guarantee, granted by decree signed by the father of Isabel dos Santos, who was then president of Angola. Isabel dos Santos controls at least 42.5% of the bank.
This guarantee was later activated. According to the BBC, the new leader of Sodiam, Bravo da Rosa, estimates that the diamond company will have lost “more than 200 million dollars” with this operation.
During the presidency of José Eduardo dos Santos, the head of state also gave Sindika Dokolo the rights to purchase some rough diamonds found on Angolan soil, at prices below the market value, damaging the public coffers by “more than a thousand million dollars ”, according to current government estimates.
Isabel dos Santos denies having any relationship with De Grisogono. But the Luanda Leaks documents show that the Angolan businesswoman is a shareholder in the jewelry.
- The privileged land in Luanda
The documents on display at Luanda Leaks also show how Isabel dos Santos acquired land from the Angolan state in September 2017, with the help of presidential decrees signed by her father and paying below market value.
The BBC tells how a company by Isabel dos Santos acquired a piece of land with an area of one square kilometer in Luanda, in a luxury location, by the sea. A document shows that the land was worth 96 million dollars, but that Isabel dos Santos paid 5% of that amount, committing herself to invest the remainder in a new development.
The British chain explains that about 500 Angolan families were “evicted” from their homes and relocated in precarious and isolated urbanization 50 kilometers from the Angolan capital. The conditions are “desperate”. The houses often flooded with sewage, are close to an open pit.
Isabel dos Santos denies that citizens have been “evicted” with this business and guarantees that their companies never received any amount, not least because the project was eventually canceled.
