José Filomeno dos Santos

Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos (born 9 January 1978) is an Angolan businessman, and the son of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country from 1979 to 2017.^[2] Following a lengthy legal process Angola's top court declared the 2002 conviction of Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos as void and 'unconstitutional'. ^[3] Stating the previous verdict breached "the principles of legality, adversarial proceedings, a fair and consistent judgment and rights to the defence.”

José Filomeno dos Santos
Born	(1978-01-09) 9 January 1978 (age 47)[1] Luanda, Angola
Nationality	Angolan
Other names	Zenú
Alma mater	University of Westminster
Board member of	Fundo Soberano de Angola
Spouse	Maíra Fernandes
Parent(s)	José Eduardo dos Santos and Filomena Sousa
Relatives	Isabel dos Santos (sister) Coréon Dú (brother)

Early life and education

Jose Filomeno de Sousa dos Santos was born 9 January 1978 as single child of Filomena Sousa and Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who was elected as President of Angola on 21 September 1979, served under multiple mandates until 25 September 2017.

Career

In 2012, José Filomeno dos Santos was appointed to the board of the Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA), Angola's sovereign wealth fund^[4] and in June 2013 he succeeded Armando Manuel as Chairman.^[5] After President João Lourenço was elected, he dismissed dos Santos from his position before the end of his term.^[6][7] is removal by Lourenço revealed a political tug-of-war in a country under political transition.^[8]

Following his dismissal, Dos Santos was arrested in 2018 in connection with the authorisation of a transfer of $500 million to a British bank, which froze the funds,^[7] among other charges of "criminal organization, illegal enrichment, money laundering and corruption".^[9] The transfer was reportedly part of negotiations for a $30 billion concessional lending facility for Angola, the money being returned to the country’s central bank.^[10][11]

Dos Santos was released in March 2019.^[12] On 9 December 2019, Dos Santos appeared before the Supreme Court in Luanda, along with three co-defendants, who were also accused of money laundering and embezzlement: former governor of the National Bank of Angola Valter Filipe da Silva, Jorge Gaudens Pontes Sebastião, businessman and childhood friend of the son of the former president, and António Samália Bule, director of the BNA.^[13]

On 14 August 2020, the Supreme Court of Angola sentenced dos Santos to five years in prison for fraud, money laundering, trading in influence, falsification and criminal association.^[14][13]

On April 4, 2024, the Constitutional Court overturned the Supreme Court decision, which it deemed "unconstitutional", and biased as certain elements provided by its defense were not taken into account by the judges.^[15]

On December 26, 2024, President João Lourenço issued an offer for a pardon that José Filomeno dos Santos declined to accept, as the stated crimes were already absolved by the country’s constitutional court when it exonerated him. ^[16] The pardon was scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2025.^[17]

Personal life

In August 2013, dos Santos was ranked at number 26 out of the top 100 wealth fund chiefs in the world. The rankings are an annual measurement process run by The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and display a desire to diversify the economy of a nation highly dependent on its petroleum exports.^[18][19]

His half sister was Isabel dos Santos a former head of the Angola state-owned oil company Sonangol Group, starting in June 2016 until November 2017 when she was dismissed by President João Lourenço. ^[20] The International Monetary Fund in 2011 asked to account for a missing US$32 billion.^[21][22]

Dos Santos' father, former president José Eduardo dos Santos, lived his last years in exile in Barcelona.^[23][24]