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Angola formally names Isabel dos Santos as suspect over alleged financial mismanagement

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Prosecutors in Angola have named Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, as a suspect over alleged mismanagement and misappropriation of funds while she was chairwoman of state oil firm Sonangol.

Angola’s attorney general, Helder Pitta Groz told a news conference in the Angolan capital Luanda on Thursday that dos Santos had not directly shown any interest in collaborating with Angolan authorities.

Portuguese newspaper Expresso said others linked to dos Santos were also named as formal suspects including Mario Leite da Silva, the chairman of Banco de Fomento Angola.

Speaking on public radio late on Monday, Helder Pitra Gros, Angola’s prosecutor general, said: “We will use all possible means and activate international mechanisms to bring Isabel dos Santos back to the country.”

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He added: “We have asked for international support from Portugal, Dubai and other countries.”

The BBC Panorama has been given access to more than 700,000 leaked documents about the billionaire’s business empire and how she got access to lucrative deals involving land, oil, diamonds and telecoms when her father was president of Angola.

The award-winning New York-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which was behind the release, alleged the international system has allowed powerful individuals like her to move assets around the world, without questions.

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