By Wedaeli Chibelushi, LUANDA
Angola
Fresh criminal charges against Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos are politically motivated, she has insisted.
Angola's public prosecutor has
charged Ms Dos Santos with 12 crimes, including embezzlement and fraud, reports
said.
The charges relate to Ms Dos
Santos' time as chair of a state-owned oil firm.
Previously described as
Africa's richest woman, Ms Dos Santos ran Sonangol from 2016 to 2017.
She is the daughter of former
Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, who led the south-west African
country for 38 years until he stepped down in 2017.
Critics of Ms Dos Santos have
long claimed she used her position of influence to enrich herself at the
expense of the state - allegations she has denied.
On Tuesday, Ms Dos Santos told
Angolan radio station Rádio Essencial that "these lies have to end".
"I think it is time for
the government and the republic's attorney general to take responsibility for
the accusations they make because it's irresponsible to be managing a country
based on fabricated lies," she said.
Earlier in the day, one of her
lawyers, Dan Morrison, told the BBC: "Isabel dos Santos rejects these
trumped-up charges by the Angolan government which have been launched as part
of a sustained campaign of political persecution against her by President
[João] Lourenço."
Under the presidency of Mr
Lourenço, several of José Eduardo dos Santos' relatives have been prosecuted on
various charges, which they deny.
In 2020, Angolan prosecutors
charged Ms Dos Santos with embezzlement and money laundering.
Global police agency Interpol
issued a "red notice" for the billionaire in 2022, asking global law
enforcement authorities to locate and provisionally arrest her.
Ms Dos Santos has not been
arrested since investigations against her began but she is subject to a number
of asset freezes around the world.
On Tuesday, she said these
restrictions had led her to struggle financially.
"I can't manage my
accounts to pay for my children's studies, health care or house rent," she
told Rádio Essencial.
Her lawyer, Mr Morrison, said:
"Isabel is presently engaged in court proceedings in various jurisdictions
to clear her name.
"The aim of the Angolan
authorities is to intimidate her from returning to Angola so she is unable to
run for political office."
Ms Dos Santos has mooted
running for Angola's presidency in various media interviews over the past few
years.
The most recent indictment
against Ms Dos Santos was filed on 11 December, Portuguese news agency Lusa
reports, but the Angolan attorney general's office told the BBC it could not
comment on the matter as it was "under judicial secrecy".
Ms Dos Santos has previously
been described as Africa's richest woman, with an estimated fortune of $2bn
(£1.6bn). She is no longer included on Forbes' rankings of the world's
wealthiest people because her assets are under dispute in various territories.
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