International News

LISBON, (APP/AFP): Angolan Vice President Manuel Vicente on
Wednesday denied any involvement in a corruption case that triggered the arrest of a Portuguese magistrate last month.
Public prosecutor Orlando Figueira, 54, is reportedly suspected of
receiving at least 200,000 euros ($220,000) in return for shelving an
investigation into the Angolan politician.
“I have had absolutely nothing to do with any payment that, according
to the press, would have benefited” the magistrate, Vicente said in a statement.
He said the allegations were “completely without foundation,” but he
was ready to clarify the matter “in order to lay any suspicion to rest”.
The probe, shelved in January 2012, centred on the origin of funds
which Vicente, then the head of Angola’s public oil company Sonangol, used to buy a luxury apartment in a Lisbon suburb.
According to Portuguese media reports, Figueira received at least 200,000 euros from a subsidiary of Sonangol to bury the affair.