Angolan Billionaire Isabel dos Santos Loses Appeal in $778M Asset Freeze

Isabel dos Santos, Africa's first female billionaire, failed to overturn a court order freezing her assets worth up to £580 million ($778 million). The lawsuit, initiated by Angolan telecoms operator Unitel, revolves around unpaid loans to dos Santos' company, Unitel International Holdings.

Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos on Monday lost an appeal to overturn an order freezing up to 580 million pounds ($778 million) of her assets as part of a lawsuit at London's High Court.

Dos Santos, Africa's first female billionaire, whose father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, ruled Angola for 38 years until 2017, is being sued by Angolan telecoms operator Unitel. Unitel was granted a worldwide freezing order over dos Santos' assets in December, and the Court of Appeal on Monday rejected her appeal against that decision.

Facing corruption accusations in Angola, dos Santos denies the allegations and claims she's the target of a political vendetta. The lawsuit concerns loans made by Unitel to Unitel International Holdings (UIH) in 2012 and 2013, when she was a Unitel director, to acquire shares in telecoms companies. Dos Santos owns and controls UIH, although Unitel and UIH are not related. The loans, amounting to around 300 million pounds, were not repaid, and dos Santos resigned as a director of Unitel in 2020.

(With inputs from agencies.)