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Angola, UAE
Abu Dhabi banks begin freezing bank accounts linked to Dos Santos family

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“The global hunt for the Dos Santos family assets”

Angola

The global hunt for the Dos Santos family assets

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. [...]

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. [...]

Published on 15/04/2021 at 05:00 GMT Reading time 2 minutes

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Diplomacy

Read this article in our running story

“The global hunt for the Dos Santos family assets”

Angola

The global hunt for the Dos Santos family assets

Set up email notifications for these topics

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Areva
Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates
CitiBank
Emirates NBD
Helin International
HSBC
Isabel dos Santos
Konema Mwenenge
Mashreqbank
Moufide Bouchibi
National Bank of Dubai
Orano
Payoneer
Sebastien de Montessus
Sindika Dokolo
UraMin

Spotlight | Angola, UAE
Dubai hosts secret accounts of Dos Santos clan and other wealthy Africans

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.

Subscribers only Finance 25.01.2023

Isabel dos Santos (third from left, front row) at President Joao Lourenco's inauguration in 2017 alongside her (now late) husband Sindika Dokolo, her half-sister Welwitschia "Tchize" dos Santos, and her brother Eduardo Breno dos Santos.

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Emmanuel Macron, William Ruto, Alassane Ouattara, Isabel Dos Santos, Chanel

Intrigues big and small: every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

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Subscribers only Politics, Business, Diplomacy 06.12.2022

Angola
Manuel Vicente set to be big loser in general election

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.

Subscribers only Politics 22.08.2022

Former Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente (photo from November 2015).

Mauritius
Ex-Warwyck bank CEO Karl Aeschbacher stages comeback

The new asset management firm Grammont Management is counting on Aeschbacher to develop its business in a difficult climate for the Mauritian offshore sector.

Subscribers only Finance, Business 23.07.2021

The financier Karl Aeschbacher, former CEO of Warwyck Private Bank.

Algeria, UAE
Abu Dhabi's unease over Algier's extradition request for ex-Sonatrach CEO Ould Kaddour

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Lourenço, Buhari, Sall and co. handpick their envoys to the House of Saud

Nurturing relations with the leading Gulf power is an absolute necessity for all African presidents seeking financial and political support in the Arab world. To develop their lines of communications with the Wahhabi monarchy, African heads of state choose personalities of the first order.

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The new Angolan ambassador to Saudi Arabia Frederico Manuel dos Santos e Silva Cardoso (left) met with the Saudi Minister of Protocol Affairs Mashari bin Ali bin Naheet on 25 May 2021.

Angola, UAE
Dos Santos probe seals MBZ-Lourenço pact

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.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 02.04.2021

Isabel dos Santos is the eldest daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017.

Spotlight | Angola
Lourenço follows dos Santos asset trail to Singapore

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.

Free access Diplomacy 30.03.2021

Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos.

Angola
Dos Santos asset hunt, catalyst of growing Abu Dhabi-Luanda bond

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.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 24.03.2021

Isabel Dos Santos, daughter of Angola's former president.

Spotlight | Angola
Lourenço solicits cooperation from the Emirates, Mauritius and Monaco in battle against Dos Santos family

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.

Subscribers only Diplomacy 15.03.2021

On our other sites

Angolan anti-corruption probes crisscross from Luanda to New York

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.

Subscribers only Intelligence Online 17.03.2021

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Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Areva
Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates
CitiBank
Emirates NBD
Helin International
HSBC
Isabel dos Santos
Konema Mwenenge
Mashreqbank
Moufide Bouchibi
National Bank of Dubai
Orano
Payoneer
Sebastien de Montessus
Sindika Dokolo
UraMin

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Angola, UAE
Abu Dhabi banks begin freezing bank accounts linked to Dos Santos family