Swiss supreme court reverses freeze on Angolan tycoon's $900 million fortune
Switzerland’s top court this month ruled against a freeze on $900 million belonging to a jailed Angolan businessman, citing insufficient evidence for money laundering alleged by prosecutors.
The ruling reverses one of the largest personal asset
freezes in Swiss history, levied by prosecutors in 2018 and upheld by a court
last year, but keeps it in place pending appeals.
Carlos Manuel de Sao Vicente was a key figure in Angola’s
oil industry, heading a group of companies called AAA International which sold
insurance contracts to state oil company Sonangol over nearly two decades of
bumper profits.
According to a copy of the unpublished March 10 decision
obtained by Reuters, the Supreme Court in Lausanne noted that prosecutors “did
not precisely determine, as it was their task to do, the predicate offences for
money laundering necessary to justify the upholding of a seizure on the bank
assets of the appellant”.
“The appellant has given explanations for each of the (bank)
activities deemed problematic by the public prosecutor”, the court added.
The Swiss public prosecutor did not immediately respond to a
Reuters request for comment on the court’s ruling.
‘LEGITIMATE REIMBURSEMENT’
Prosecutors said in the original court filing they had
frozen $1.25 billion in accounts associated with de Sao Vicente, his family and
companies after Swiss banks flagged transfers to them as suspicious.
They released most of the accounts in April 2019 save for
two which were in de Sao Vicente’s name.
De Sao Vicente, who has been jailed on suspicion of
corruption in Angola since late last year, has described the transfers between
2012 to 2019 as legitimate reimbursement for loans he had made earlier.
Angolan prosecutors did not respond to a Reuters request for
comment on the ruling. Court filings to date suggest there has been no request
by Angola for a repatriation of funds.
De Sao Vicente’s wife, whose name along with those of other
family members are attached to bank accounts originally blocked and then
released by the Swiss prosecutors, is Irene Neto, a former deputy minister from
Angola’s ruling party and daughter of Angola’s former president.
Neto denies any role in his businesses or any corruption.
Lawyers for de Sao Vicente’s company AAA International told
Reuters the ruling vindicates him as a legitimate businessman and that they
expect the freeze to eventually be lifted.
“The decision clearly demonstrates that the Swiss case is
empty and it will be much more difficult for the Swiss prosecution service to
maintain the seizure,” Sonja Maeder Morvan of Geneva-based Reiser Avocats told
Reuters.
Angola, which draws a third of state revenues from oil, is
seeking to defy decades of perceived corruption and nepotism as it seeks to
attract foreign investment to its flagging economy.
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