Between them, the documents show, they co-owned two Maltese companies, Victoria Holding Limited and a subsidiary, Victoria Limited. A draft copy of the shareholders’ agreement from the time of the purchase suggests that Melbourne “has the full control of the management of [Victoria Holding], Victoria Limited, De Grisogono Holding SA and De Grisogono, SA”. Immediately after the deal went through, Almerk received $4m from Victoria Holding for its services. Days later, the money appears to have been paid back to Victoria Holding by Melbourne Investments. The prosecutors claim these companies were able to keep the profits from the sales, while the Angolan state lost out.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2020 18:00 UTC