Following a large number of legal proceeding filed against the family of Angola's former president José Eduardo dos Santos, the government of president João Lourenço has asked a dozen countries to freeze the assets of the Dos Santos family, in particular those of the former president's daughter Isabel dos Santos. Many of these countries see this request as a golden opportunity to forge closer ties with Angola.
Africa Intelligence can reveal the existence of companies secretly set up in the United Arab Emirates on behalf of the family of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos. The group behind these, wealth management firm Helin International, is under investigation in the United States, France, Switzerland and Luxembourg.
In September, the former Angolan number two and chief executive of Sonangol will lose the immunity he has benefitted from for the last five years and could well find himself prosecuted for corruption.
Recovering illicit assets lodged abroad by the dos Santos clan is one of the biggest challenges facing President Joao Lourenco, leading him to solicit support from the club of fellow Portuguese-speaking nations which meets in Luanda later this month.
The Biden administration has banned Isabel dos Santos from entering the US. The ban signals US support for Angola's worldwide hunt for her assets, which allegedly come from embezzled public funds.
João Lourenço's anti-corruption record has taken another blow after one of his closest advisers, Isaac dos Anjos, was charged with misusing funds from the state-owned Sonango oil firm to build luxury property.
The UAE, Monaco, Mauritius and Singapore are no longer the only jurisdictions scanning bank accounts to track down the assets of the former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos and his family.
Banks in the UAE have rushed to freeze the assets of the Dos Santos family and its associates following a request for cooperation from Angola's judiciary, just ahead of the start of Ramadan.
The Mauritian Independent Commission Against Corruption has ordered the island's banks to communicate the details of the accounts opened by Isabel dos Santos, Sindika Dokolo and Konema Mwenenge.
The UAE usually ignores foreign requests for judicial cooperation regarding its offshore hubs but has bent over backwards to accommodate Angola's investigations into the family of former president José Eduardo dos Santos. By doing so, the Emirates are not only forging stronger ties with Luanda but also earning money-laundering brownie points.
Angola's justice ministry has previously asked Emirati and Mauritian authorities to help it locate the assets of the dos Santos family. Now it is taking the treasure hunt all the way to Singapore. Isabel dos Santos, for her part, is fighting back in court in London.
The Angolan president's quiet trip to Abu Dhabi last week is the latest sign of a fast-tracked rapprochement between the UAE and Angola. But this blossoming diplomatic and economic alliance depends on the UAE's willingness to hunt down the dos Santos family's assets.
President Joao Lourenço came into office hellbent on stamping out corruption from the Dos Santos era but some of his own entourage are now worried the crusade could turn against them. The goal from both sides is to drawn the US Department of Justice into the arena.
The Angolan Ministry of Justice is requesting help left and right to round up and potentially freeze the assets of the former president's daughter, Isabel Dos Santos.
Already engaged in innumerable court cases and arbitration battles, the smallest details of which are dutifully publicized by their respective PR teams, the family of ex-president dos Santos and the Angolan state are also fighting another less public, much less procedural battle.
