In a high-profile mass corruption trial, a court in Angola on Thursday sentenced scores of former presidential guard troops to prison terms of up to 14 years for fraud and embezzlement.
In June, 49 people were put on trial, including officers who worked for the presidential security agency under the administration of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and bank employees.
They were accused of a variety of offenses, including fraud, abuse of power, and embezzlement.
According to Judge Andrade da Silva:
This court found them guilty because it was established that the state suffered significant harm as a result of the ongoing criminal acts.
202 witnesses in total gave testimony against the gang.
One instance of misconduct noted by the court during a marathon six-hour verdict was the fact that hundreds of dead troops from the presidential security unit continued to be paid between 2008 and 2018.
The court determined that the government suffered a $77 million loss as a result of the salaries provided to the ghost military employees.
Angolan prosecutors earlier last year charged some of the army personnel with involvement in caches of foreign and domestic currency seized in boxes and luggage.
Standard courts were unable to handle the volume of defendants and witnesses, so the trial was transferred to the Talatona Convention Center, which is roughly 30 kilometers south of the country’s capital Luanda.
More than 30 attorneys represented the defendants, and they said they will challenge the convictions and punishments.
The presidency’s secretary-office general’s served as the focal point of the crimes.
Former general and current president Joao Lourenco took office in 2017 with the promise of fighting the widespread corruption that had crept up under Dos Santos.
He was re-elected following a close victory in an August ballot that the main opposition UNITA party challenged.
Dos Santos was charged with assigning family members and associates to important positions during his 38-year tenure, leaving the southwest African nation with a legacy of poverty and cronyism. Dos Santos passed away in July in Barcelona, weeks after suffering cardiorespiratory arrest.
