Two former directors of the Dutch trust office TCA played a crucial role in controversial transactions of Isabel dos Santos, the richest woman in Africa. This is evident from documents released this week from the Amsterdam Court of Appeal. In 2017, the trust office signed forged documents with which more than fifty million euros disappeared and ended up with the daughter of the former president of Angola.
The former directors Robert van der Velden and Robert van Lier were recently summoned to the Amsterdam court for their role in the controversial transactions. The two men are held liable for their part in embezzling more than 50 million euros from the Angolan state.
This is apparent from the summons in the hands of NRC. Trust offices operate and manage letterbox companies for foreign customers, and have been discredited in recent years for corruption and tax avoidance.
Dos Santos became the richest woman in Africa thanks to her father
In addition to the trust directors, Isabel dos Santos herself, her children, her Angolan advisers and a well-known Portuguese lawyer have also been summoned before the Dutch civil court. Isabel dos Santos is the daughter of the former president of Angola, who ruled the country for nearly 40 years and stepped down in 2017. During her father’s reign, Dos Santos became a billionaire thanks to lucrative jobs and contracts that her father gave her. Criminal investigations against Dos Santos are currently underway in Angola, Portugal and the Netherlands.
Robert van der Velden says he will defend himself against the allegations and says he has had no direct involvement in the controversial decisions. His former colleague Van Lier does not respond to questions from NRC. Isabel dos Santos says that she was only informed of the summons a few days ago.
Read the research story here: How the richest woman in Africa got millions of euros from the Angolan state via the Netherlands
The civil proceedings in the Netherlands were initiated by the Amsterdam lawyer Camilo Schutte. He was appointed in 2021 by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal as director of Esperaza Holding bv, one of the Dutch companies that plays a central role in one of the controversial deals of Dos Santos and her family. Schutte’s task is to investigate abuses in the company. The lawyer discovered that Dos Santos had embezzled more than 50 million euros from the Angolan state oil company Sonangol via the Netherlands.
Kleptocratic
Last year, the Netherlands Arbitration Institute – which examined the matter at the request of Dos Santos and her husband – concluded that Dos Santos had acquired the shares in Esperaza through “kleptocratic transactions”. The Arbitration Institute declared the transactions “null and void”.
Schutte now institutes proceedings against Dos Santos and her so-called „facilitators” to get the stolen money back. He also decided to sue Dos Santos’ lawyers and trustees. “They are more than extras,” says Schutte. “Facilitators often remain outside the scope of the Public Prosecution Service, but we believe that those facilitators should pay if Dos Santos does not repay the stolen money.” The Public Prosecution Service did not respond to questions from NRC.
A version of this article also appeared in the newspaper of November 5, 2022