Lisbon court seizes NOS shares held by Angola's dos Santos
Sonaecom, sub-holding of Portugal’s Sonae, said on Saturday
evening a Lisbon court seized shares in telecommunications firm NOS of a
holding company it co-owned with former first-daughter and Angolan
businesswoman Isabel dos Santos.
Sonaecom and dos Santos, who was named a suspect in a fraud
investigation in Angola this year, each own 50% of holding firm ZOPT, which
owns 52.15% of NOS.
The seizure affects half of ZOPT’s shares, equivalent to dos
Santos’ holdings - but ZOPT as a whole will be deprived of voting rights, a
decision Sonaecom argued “seriously harms the interests of ZOPT and Sonaecom,
both being third parties completely unrelated to the judicial process
underway.”
Sonaecom said it would contest the decision as ZOPT “is not
liable for the debts of its shareholders”. Dos Santos has repeatedly denied any
wrongdoing.
Angolan courts seized dos Santos’ assets in December, but
did not freeze voting rights, Sonaecom said.
In February, Portugal’s public prosecutor ordered the
seizure of bank accounts belonging the ex-first daughter, who also owns shares
in several other Portuguese companies including oil group Galp.
Sonaecom said it would cooperate with judicial authorities
while taking “all appropriate legal action to revert and terminate the seizure
procedure”.
Earlier this year, hundreds of thousands of files about dos
Santos dubbed the “Luanda Leaks” were released by several news organisations
focussing on how she amassed a fortune estimated at more than $2 billion.
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