court orders seizure of Africa richest woman assets

Angola's Supreme Court has ordered the "freezing" of assets worth nearly $1 billion owned by Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of the former president of Angola, Lusa news agency said on Tuesday. A court document cited by Lusa, dated December 19, said authorities have evidence of alleged embezzlement and money laundering and ordered the seizure of dos Santos' funds in "all banking institutions". The seizure also includes all of dos Santos' shares in the Angolan company Embalvidro, as well as 100% of the shares in the telecommunications company Unitel T+ of Cape Verde and Unitel STP in Sao Tome e Principe, according to Lusa. A total of 70% of its shares in Mozambique's MStar and Upstar Comunicacoes should also be seized, Lusa said. Dos Santos has faced allegations of corruption for years. In 2019, Angola's Supreme Court ordered the seizure of his assets for allegedly managing state funds for companies he had a stake in during his father's presidency, including the oil giant Sonangol. Dos Santos' father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, died in July. He ruled Angola for almost four decades until 2017. A spokesman for dos Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and told CNN Portugal in November that courts in Angola "are not independent" and that judges there "were used to fulfill a political agenda". The order comes after the international police organization Interpol issued a red notice to dos Santos last month, asking international authorities to find and arrest him temporarily