Angola arrests 20 members of president’s security house

By Xinhua

At least 20 members of Angola president’s security house have been arrested by the country’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) in eastern Cuando Cubango, suspect of embezzlement, retention of currency and criminal association, the spokesperson of the PGR, Alvaro Joao, said on Wednesday.

Alvaro Joao added that investigations will continue and that by the time of the arrests, those involved were found with several sums of local currency kept in containers. Early in May, the PGR said it seized millions of kwanzas, euros, U.S. dollars, residences and luxury vehicles, as part of a criminal case involving several generals of the Angolan Armed Forces. The PGR adds that high-ranking officers of the president’s security house are being investigated on crimes of embezzlement, retention of currency, criminal association and others.

Several general officers of the president’s security house have been removed from office early this month as part of an ongoing criminal investigation carried out by the PGR.”There are assets that are here in Angola and others outside the country. We have already set international cooperation in motion to help us identify and locate these assets, so that they can be seized,” the country’s Attorney General, Pitta Groz said early this month.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna