Dos Santos linked jeweler goes bankrupt

A Swiss luxury jeweler linked to Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos has filed for bankruptcy.

The Geneva-based de Grisogono, whose main shareholders are Ms Dos Santo's husband, Sindika Dokolo and Sodiam,the trading arm of Angola’s state-controlled diamond agency, said that it had failed to get a new owner after months of looking.

“Without the financial support of the current shareholders, and without a buyer, the company’s solvency is now in question,” the company said in a statement.

De Grisogono was known for hosting famous parties at the Cannes Film Festival.

In revelations made in leaked documents made public on 19 January, Mr Dokolo signed a one-sided agreement in 2012 with Sodiam.

They were supposed to be 50-50 partners in a deal to buy a stake in de Grisogono.

The documents show that 18 months after the deal, Sodiam had put $79m (£61m) into the partnership, while Mr Dokolo had only invested $4m.

Sodiam also awarded him a $5m success fee for brokering the deal, so he didn't have to use any of his own money.

The Angolan government says the diamonds were sold at a knockdown price and sources have told the BBC's Panorama programme that almost $1bn may have been lost.

Ms Dos Santos told the BBC she couldn't comment because she was not a shareholder of de Grisogono.

But the leaked documents show that she is described as a shareholder of de Grisogono by her own financial advisers.