Wikipedia Commons /    Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos

By Gary Raynaldo           DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Isabel dos Santos, daughter of former Angola president José Eduardo dos Santos, called for her assets to be unfrozen, and accused the  Angolan justice system of using a forged passport in the case that led to the freezing of her money.  In January,  the Angolan government of  President Joao Lourenço ordered the assets and banks account of Isabel dos Santos to be frozen in Angola then in Portugal.   Dos Santos was crowned the richest woman in Africa. (Forbes reports she’s estimated to have a fortune of $2.2 billion).    Angola is seeking to reclaim $1 billion that Isabel dos Santos and her associates allegedly owe  as part of an anti-corruption drive launched by her father’s successor has targeted the former first family’s assets.   Dos Santos issued a statement online through a British public relations agency  in which she said a “fake passport” sent by Angolan Embassy in Japan was authenticated by the angolan Intelligence Services and used by the Attorney General In Court to freeze her assets.  

An entirely fake transaction was concocted, a false passport sent by Angolan Embassy in Japan was authenticated by the angolan Intelligence Services and used by the Attorney General In Court.The judge awardede a Freezing order based on the fake passport as proof. pic.twitter.com/BXPMbU7SPl

— Isabel Dos Santos (@isabelaangola) May 12, 2020

“The Angolan State used the fabricated evidence in an ex parte court claim – meaning Ms dos Santos and her lawyers were not present to contest the allegations. The forged evidence was relevant and material in supporting the case.”

-Isabel dos Santos said in the statement- May 12, 2020. 

Angolan and Portuguese authorities rely on passport with signature of 1970s martial artist and actor Bruce Lee:  Isabel dos Santos 

Credit: isabeldossantoscom /  The press statement said the forged passport in the name of Isabel dos Santos does not bear her signature but that of Bruce Lee, the famous kung fu actor.

“The name is incomplete – plus ‘Isabel’ is listed as a surname and ‘dos Santos’ as a first name (4). The date of birth is wrong (2). The passport number is not the same at the top and bottom of the page (5). English – not an official language in Angola – is used (3).  But the most ridiculous aspect is the signature of the issuing authority: this is a reproduction of the signature of Bruce Lee, the legendary kung fu actor who died in the 1970s (1).” Isabel dos Santos said in the statement, adding: “This forgery was accepted as evidence to justify the seizure of the assets.”

Credit: isabeldossantoscom /

“Isn’t it now clear that the Angolan authorities’ objective was to obtain an emergency seizure of assets at any cost to prevent me from defending myself and causing the bankruptcy of the companies in which I invested and managed?”

-Isabel dos Santos asked in the statement.

 In 2017,  José Eduardo dos Santos’ nearly 40-year grip on power ended with the election of President Lourenco, who made cleaning up past corruption a priority in his new administration of of the oil-rich, but poverty-stricken  Southern African nation. 

Autocrat’s daughter dos Santos revealed as owner of £13m  London Mansion

Source:  thetimes.co.uk / Isabel dos Santos, centre, in the French resort of Antibes in 2018 with the singer Nicole Scherzinger and the socialite Paris Hilton, right. She has won permission to demolish a mansion in west London and rebuild it with a swimming pool complex.