Sao Tome, Feb. 5, 2025 (Lusa) - The government of Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday ruled out any evidence of Russian money laundering through banks in the archipelago, and asked the public prosecutor's office and the judicial police of Sao Tome and Portugal to investigate reports made on a Portuguese television channel.
"From the outset there are no indications that there may have been this kind of action, so we are going to do our investigative work," São Tomé and Príncipe's minister of state, economy and finance, Gareth Guadalupe, told Lusa.
At issue are statements made by SIC TV commentator José Milhazes during the 'Cold War' programme on Tuesday, in which he said that "in a very discreet way São Tomé and Príncipe is becoming a place for Russian money laundering".
José Milhazes referred to information published on Telegram by "very well informed" Russian pages.
The commentator noted that the Russian banks VTB and GazpromBank are using two banks in São Tomé - Banco Internacional de São Tomé e Príncipe (BISTP) and Banco Equador - buying shares, through trusted people and senior executives, "to evade European sanctions" on Russia "allowing them to hide the real presence of Russian banks in São Tomé".
"There are a whole series of intermediaries, who earn large commissions, huge commissions [...] it is mainly the heads of the banks, the managers of the banks who are gaining from this scheme and not the banks themselves," said the commentator, arguing that “the European Union must pay attention to this and other violations that are daily denounced by the international press”.
BISTP's principal shareholders are the São Toméan state with 48%, Portugal's state-owned Caixa Geral de Depósitos Bank with 27% and Banco Angolano de Investimentos with 25%.
As for Banco Equador, São Tomé and Príncipe's minister of state, economy and finance assured that "it is proven to be liquidated".
The São Toméan minister said that he was in contact with financial institutions such as the central bank, which carries out financial supervision, the public prosecutor's office, the judicial police and also the financial intelligence unit (WIF) to investigate the matter.
Gareth Guadalupe emphasised that the latest reports from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Intergovernmental Action Task Force against Money Laundering (EISBA) do not indicate that the archipelago is "so bad that there are these types of cases", but insisted that "this investigative work needs to be done".
He also pointed out that São Tomé and Príncipe has a law in force against money laundering and terrorist financing, "which is still up to date for what these types of activities are today".
"We are going to do our homework and hopefully this information will be clarified more quickly because we want to continue to maintain our reputation as a country of financial stability, as a country of integrity, as a country of transparency in the financial system," emphasised Gareth Guadalupe.
The São Toméan minister said he hoped to "count on the help of the Portuguese public prosecutor's office and also the Portuguese judicial police" to clarify the matter.
However, Gareth Guadalupe said that if the statements made by the SIC commentator are not proven, "measures will have to be implemented" and "the perpetrator will have to be punished because the country's image is at stake and nothing is higher than the best interests of the State of São Tomé and Príncipe".
JYAF/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
