Luanda: The Luanda District Court begins Tuesday the second session of the trial of the criminal case involving 36 defendants, including officials from the General Tax Administration (AGT) and companies, accused of committing various economic and financial crimes. The case involves 38 defendants, including six companies, accused of defrauding the Angolan State of more than 100 billion kwanzas, through an alleged scheme of undue reimbursement of value-added tax (VAT).
According to Angola Press News Agency, in February of last year, the Minister of Finance, Vera Daves de Sousa, apologized to taxpayers and assured that those responsible would be held accountable, reaffirming the Government's commitment to maintaining an "implacable" stance in the fight against corruption. As part of the process, the administrator for the VAT, strategic planning and information technology departments, the director of registration and collection, and the head of the VAT refund department were arrested.
The defendants are accused of the crimes of illegitimate access to the information system, computer fraud, criminal association, and embezzlement. According to the MP's accusation, the criminal network was made up of employees from different positions, who, taking advantage of these privileges, carried out several fraudulent deals.
The indictment claims that the group set up a tax evasion, document forgery, and money laundering scheme, causing significant losses to the treasury. The targeted companies are accused of creating fictitious invoicing networks and manipulating tax returns to avoid tax obligations.
The criminal network, according to the MP, has been operating since 2021, resorting to tampering with the Integrated Tax Management System (SIGT), unduly favoring several companies through the elimination and reduction of tax debts, irregular issuance of settlement notes, and undue VAT refunds, among other harmful practices. This is a process that comprises 45 volumes and six appendices, involving 30 individual defendants and six legal entities.
Of the total number of defendants, 20 are in preventive detention, while 16 are released, all assisted by 36 trained lawyers. For this session, judge Jos© Lando defined the starting points of the hearing as the consideration of issues relating to the regularization of legal entities, with the appointment of the respective legal representatives, the reading of the main procedural documents, namely the indictment, the order of indictment, and the reorganization of the process, as well as the beginning of the evidence production phase, with the interrogation of the defendants.
