Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos hit with US sanctions for 'significant corruption'

Isabel dos Santos, once Africa’s richest woman and daughter of Angola’s former President, has been placed under visa restriction by United States because of her “involvement in significant corruption”. According to BBC, US State Department on Thursday said that Dos Santos was subjected to restrictions because she used her position to eng in corruption by “misappropriating public funds for her personal benefit”. w, visa restrictions issued by US will bar Dos Santos and her immediate family members from entering America. 

According to media outlet, Dos Santos was chair of state oil company while her far José Eduardo dos Santos was president of Angola. In 2013, Forbes had declared 48-year-old richest woman in Africa, with an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion. However, in 2020, she was dropped from list, with Forbes estimating that $1.6 billion assets are frozen in Angola and Portugal. 

On Thursday, Dos Santos was targeted alongside or individuals across Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe as US scaled up its efforts to target graft across globe, including visa bans and financial sanctions. Among ors who were sanctioned by United States were two Angolan power-brokers who were close to former president. As per report, y were designated under so-called Global Magnitsky sanctions, which are used to target foreign officials implicated in alleged corruption or human rights abuses.

Who is Isabel dos Santos?

Meanwhile, coming back to Isabel dos Santos, previously, it was revealed that 48-year-old had made her fortune through allegedly exploiting her own nation and corruption. BBC reported on leaked documents when said that Dos Santos got access to lucrative deals involving land, oil, diamonds and telecoms when her far was president. documents even showed how she and her husband were allowed to buy valuable state assets in a series of suspicious deals. 

According to AP, Dos Santos heads a vast business empire, controlling companies in Angola and Portugal. She is fluent in Portuguese and English and describes herself as an “engineer, entrepreneur, investor and a public figure”. Dos Santos earlier had even said that she succeeded in amassing such wealth because of her education and her business acumen, and t because of her far’s connection. 

(Im: AP)