Controversial investor Jean-Claude Bastos detained in Angola

Angolan authorities estimate the scam allowed the accused to embezzle up to $1.5 billion from the nation's coffers. Keystone

According to agency reports, the Angolan-Swiss boss of the Zug-based fund Quantum Global has been placed in detention on suspicion of embezzling national funds. 

Bastos was named in the “Paradise Papers” revelations and until recently managed the Angolan sovereign wealth fund. His boss Jose Filomeno dos Santos, former head of the Angolan sovereign wealth fund and son of the former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has also been placed in detention. dos Santos was dismissed from his post last January by Angola’s new president, Joao Lourenço. 

Angola’s Prosecutor General Alvaro Da Silva Joao said the accused were placed under preventive detention on Monday because there was sufficient evidence that they had engaged in corrupt activities. 

Embezzlement charge

According to the Angolan Ministry of Finance, dos Santos is suspected of having developed, while running the Angolan sovereign wealth fund (Fondo Soberano de Angola), a massive scam that could have enabled him and his accomplices to embezzle up to $1.5 billion (CHF1.4 billion). 

This scam was part of a plan that would allow Angola to benefit from $35 billion in financing, with a false guarantee from the Credit Suisse bank, reports say. The fraud was discovered through a suspicious transfer of $500 million to the London account of Credit Suisse, blocked by the British authorities. 

The Swiss Attorney General’s Office announced in May that it had opened an investigation concerning “money laundering” linked to assets held by the Angolan National Bank and the Angolan sovereign wealth fund. Several searches were ordered, including Bastos’ offices in Switzerland.