Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has had billions of dollars in assets frozen in a legal dispute with Unitel, a telecommunications firm.
- Dos Santos and her Dutch holding company, Unitel International Holdings, were sued by Angolan Unitel for defaulting on loans worth approximately €325 million and US$44 million, which were intended to fund UIH’s telecoms interests.
- A London judge ruled in favor of Unitel, granting a freezing order and identifying dos Santos’s properties in London, Dubai, and Monaco, with a combined value exceeding $100 million.
- Unitel argued that the loan terms were “uncommercial” and sought for dos Santos’s personal benefit, with unjustifiably low interest rates. The judge stated that Unitel is effectively controlled by the Angolan state.
- Dos Santos, previously known as Africa’s wealthiest woman, has faced corruption allegations, accused of causing over $5 billion in losses during her father’s long-term rule. Her assets in Angola and Portugal have been frozen, and an international arrest warrant has been issued by Interpol.
- Dos Santos’s legal team claims that the lawsuit is a politically motivated campaign orchestrated by the Angolan government, and it should be viewed in the context of ongoing political feuds.
- Both dos Santos’s lawyers and Unitel representatives have yet to comment on the matter.