Ex-President’s Son Sent To Jail

Jose Filomeno dos Santos, the son of Angola’s former president, has been sentenced to five years in prison after being found guilty on corruption charges.

Naija News Understands that he was sentenced for fraud amounting to some 500 billion dollars when he headed the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

Earlier, British authorities froze the money in the UK after suspecting foul play and say it will now be returned to Angola.

Dos Santos’ passport has since been seized and he is barred from leaving the country. After 38 years in power, his father Jose Eduardo dos Santos resigned in September 2017.

His trial has been the most high profile case to date under the anti-corruption drive of President Joao Lourenco, who took the helm after dos Santos stepped down in 2017 after a near four-decade grip of power in Africa’s second-biggest oil exporter.

Judge Joao Pitra found Dos Santos – nicknamed “Zenu” – guilty of fraud, embezzlement and influence trafficking, Lusa said. Valter Filipe, former governor of the National Bank of Angola, was sentenced to eight years in the case.

António Samalia Bule, former director of Banco Nacional de Angola, and Jorge Gaudens Sebastião, a businessman and longtime friend of Zenu’s, got five years and six years respectively.