Bank of Portugal investigates EuroBic

The Bank of Portugal (BdP) has begun an inspection into the activities of bank EuroBic particularly its mechanisms for dealing with fraud and money laundering.

According to TVI24, the inspection began in December 2019 and followed on the heels of another inspection into the then Banco Bic in 2015 which resulted in a series of measures implemented by the bank part-owned by the Angolan businesswoman, Isabel dos Santos.
The current inspection aims to ascertain if the measures ordered in 2015 have in fact been implemented by EuroBic.
This latest inspection was decided before an Angolan court ordered the bank accounts and shares belonging to Isabel dos Santos in various companies be frozen. The Angolan tycoon, who owns assets in Portugal, has since moved to Dubai with her husband and family.
BdP in a statement to TVI21 said that the inspection into EuroBic is “normal” and is part of the scrutiny the Portuguese banking supervisor has over all Angolan banks which have a presence in Portugal.
EuroBic has so far declined to make any official statements into the BdP inspection to the Portuguese media.
The move by the BdP comes at a time in which Isabel dos Santos, who holds a 42.5% share in EuroBic is once again making headline news over allegations that she defrauded the Angolan State when her father, José Eduardo dos Santos was the president of Angola.
The businesswoman, who is also a shareholder of Efacec and Nos in Portugal, has been using social networks to defend herself against the allegations, denying all the allegations against her into irregular practices.