Switzerland has seized $900 million from an Angolan businessman, Carlos de Sao Vicente. Vicente has been part of an ongoing investigation on money laundering, according to court documents.
His financial assets totaling ten have been frozen. All but two, got released. Appeal to unblock the last two accounts have been rejected by the Geneva court on July 9, 2020. No further appeal has been received by the Switzerland judicial tribunal as at Wednesday, September 2, 2020.
Vicente’s lawyer, Clara Poglia from the law firm, Schellenburg Wittmer Limited has published a statement denying any and all charges against Vicente.
The frozen assets are the largest personal ones taken over by the government in Switzerland, according to reports of the probe that started in 2018 by the Swiss judicial blog, Gotham City
De Sao Vicente has been involved with the government of Angola particularly the oil industry. He was involved with the insurance and reinsurance companies of state oil firm, Sonangol.
AAA Seguros, a company that de Sao Vicente is in charge of has been alleged of being monopolistic in it’s handling of Sonangol’s insurance and reinsurance duties from 2000 to 2016. Thereby, preventing open market transactions and killing competition. AAA Segrous has been banned from insurance and dissolved.