Angola: Switzerland freezes $900M of businessman Carlos de São Vicente

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Angola: Switzerland freezes $900M of businessman Carlos de São Vicente

9:14 CAT | 31 Aug 2020

Swiss courts have decided to keep $900 million in the account of Angolan businessman Carlos de São Vicente frozen on suspicion of money laundering, reported a blog following legal issues in Switzerland.

The news from the reputed Swiss judicial blog Gotham City cites the Swiss Public Prosecutor’s order and has been replicated by several Angolan media outlets and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which released its own judicial document containing the charges.

According to ICIJ, there were seven frozen accounts of the former president of AAA Seguros Carlos Manuel de São Vicente, who is the husband of Irene Alexandra da Silva Neto, former deputy and daughter of the first President of Angola, Agostinho Neto.

The funds of six of these seven frozen accounts have been released, keeping the account that has about $900 million, equivalent to over €752 million frozen.

“My client strongly refutes the charges against him,” said attorney Clara Poglia in statements to ICIJ, adding that his client “confirms that he has always acted in accordance with the law and this will be demonstrated in the criminal process.

In statements to ICIJ, she also warned that “any publication of aspects related to this procedure violates the principle of innocence [of Carlos São Vicente], as well as his personal rights.

The Swiss authorities claim that between 2012 and 2019 the entrepreneur transferred almost $900 million from the insurance company to his accounts, something that was only discovered when bank SYZ warned of a transfer of $213 million, according to prosecutorial documents posted on the ICIJ website.

“It is unusual for an executive president and the board of directors to have in his possession funds belonging to a company, even for another insurance company regulated by the state, although he has, in this case, power of individual representation of the company,” reads the indictment released by the consortium of journalists.

In the documents, according to the Gotham City blog, Carlos São Vicente is quoted as explaining that the $213 million transferred between accounts was a partial repayment of loans, but the public prosecutor said that the contracts used to support the explanation were created only after the money transfers and only after the bank asked for more information.

Another of the ‘red flags’ may have had to do with Vicente’s request to transfer his entire fortune in the investment bank and asset management SYZ to Singapore, something which the entrepreneur explains with a dissatisfaction with the management of his finances.

The Angolan oil company, Sonangol, has a 10% stake in AAA Seguros, which was dissolved earlier this year.

Also according to Gotham City, the Angolan authorities have not responded to the request for help made by the Swiss judicial authorities.

Source: Lusa