The PGR of Angola, in a note released today, stated that the trip of Hélder Pitta Grós aims to formalize the local acts and procedures for the execution of the sentence and subsequent recovery of the "illicit assets" of the businessman domiciled in the Swiss Confederation.

According to the PGR, the trip of the Angolan magistrate is part of the "efforts to recover assets that have left the country illegally".

Pitta Grós will deal with the Swiss authorities "not only the theme of the reconversion of financial assets in favor of the Angolan State, but also issues related to the situation of some assets due to their geographical location and the need to defend the common interests of the parties", reads the note.

The Angolan President said in April that the country is trying to recover, but without success, assets of almost two billion dollars (1.9 billion euros) from the Portuguese-Angolan businessman Carlos São Vicente.

"Within the framework of the fight against corruption and in relation to the recovery of assets, we heard (...) the public statements of the Attorney General of the Republic regarding the efforts that the PGR is making to execute the sentence against an Angolan citizen who has assets of almost two billion US dollars (...) in different countries and which, according to the Angolan court ruling, revert in favor of the Angolan State", said João Lourenço, at the opening of the meeting of the Central Committee of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), the ruling party.

João Lourenço said that the PGR has been working since December 2023 with the authorities of Switzerland, the country where most of these resources are domiciled in banks, without having managed to recover these amounts to date.

"The Angolan executive is sovereign to decide the destination of this resource, obviously being subject to the scrutiny of the competent Angolan entities, defined in the Constitution and the law", he said.

The president of the MPLA was referring to the case of the Portuguese-Angolan businessman Carlos São Vicente, and son-in-law of the first President of Angola, António Agostinho Neto, who has bank accounts in Switzerland, with more than one billion dollars (940 million euros), in addition to other accounts in Portugal, Singapore, Dubai and Bermuda, according to data provided by the Angolan PGR.

The Portuguese-Angolan businessman, married to Irene Neto, is serving a nine-year sentence for embezzlement, tax fraud and money laundering, and was also sentenced to pay compensation of 500 million dollars (464 million euros)

The lawyers of businessman Carlos São Vicente asked, at the end of April, for the end of what they consider to be a "relentless campaign" of discredit promoted by the Angolan Government against the Portuguese-Angolan businessman.

The lawyers stated that the campaign aims to transform São Vicente into a "trophy" in the fight against corruption.

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