José Filomeno dos Santos

Legal disputes On 27 April 2018, the government of Angola attempted legal proceedings against Jose Filomeno dos Santos in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The allegations related to contractual issues related to management of the FSDEA. On 16 August 2018, the Court dismissed the proceedings due to insufficient grounds, and a subsequent application for permission to appeal was refused.

As a sign of disapproval of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales' judgment, the State Attorney of Angola placed Dos Santos under an investigative pre-trial detention in September 2018, while attempting to build a similar case against him in Angola. Nonetheless, the State Attorney of Angola discharged Dos Santos from detention in March 2019, after failing to bring such case before an Angolan court successfully.

Further to the lawfare unleashed under President Lourenço's rule, the State Attorney of Angola brought forward another legal case against Dos Santos and other officials to the Supreme Court of Angola on 9 December 2019. These separate proceedings related to the management of Angolan Central Bank's reserves, in spite of Dos Santos' never having worked or held any position at that institution. In relation to this separate case, On 4 April 2024, the Constitutional Court of Angola ruled in Dos Santos favor, by declaring all Supreme Court's rulings unconstitutional and nullifying the entire legal process. Following a lengthy legal process Angola's top court declared his 2002 conviction void and unconstitutional, stating the previous verdict breached "the principles of legality, adversarial proceedings, a fair and consistent judgment and rights to the defence.”

On December 26, 2024, President João Lourenço conceded to issuing an official pardon to José Filomeno dos Santos, which Dos Santos declined to accept because the sentencing in question had already been overturned by Angola's constitutional court earlier that year, wherein the judgement cleared all verdicts against Dos Santos in that legal case.

Personal life In August 2013, dos Santos was ranked at number 26 out of the top 100 wealth fund chiefs in the world. The rankings are an annual measurement process run by The Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and display a desire to diversify the economy of a nation highly dependent on its petroleum exports. Dos Santos' father, former president José Eduardo dos Santos, died at the Teknon Medical Centre, in Spain, where he had been receiving medical treatment since his retirement from politics in 2019. Dos Santos was referenced in the media, during July 2022, lamenting the ban on witnessing his father's death abroad, due to measures he considered unlawful and inhumane.