Forbes has revealed that Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s President, became the richest woman in Africa, by the tender age of 40, with a net worth that increased from zero to $3 billion. Isabel dos Santos achieved this great distinction by the simple expedient of directing anyone who wants to do business in Angola to make her a partner.
Isabel dos Santos latest achievement, according to Forbes, is to get a stake in Swiss jeweller de Grisogono.
Here again, a brilliant modus operandi has been executed.
A shell company called Victoria Holding was formed between Angolan state-owned diamond company, Sodiam, and a Dutch company called Melbourne Investments. Dos Santos’s husband Sindika Dokolo is the sole beneficial owner of Melbourne Investments.
Victoria Holding acquired 75% of de Grisogono in 2012 for more than $100 million through a subsidiary.
What, if any, investment Melbourne Investments made to get the stake is anybody’s guess. It is more likely that Sodiam invested taxpayers’ funds in buying de Grisogono and that Isabel dos Santos and her husband Sindika Dokolo are just siphoning off the cream.
Compared to Isabel dos Santos, the great Robert Vadra is just an amateur still in matters of taking advantage of political connections to take home the loot.
