Geneva jeweller De Grisogono, which was linked to the family of former Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos, has declared bankruptcy.
By Luxus Plus
On sale for several months
The brand, which had been bought in 2012 by Isabel dos Santos (daughter of the former president of Angola) and her husband, had been on sale for months.
According to an investigation published by the New York Times, Isabel Dos Santos had fraudulently accumulated an estimated fortune of 2.1 billion dollars rankhaya.com. The Angolan public prosecutor’s office has therefore formally charged her and several of her Portuguese associates. For her part, the 46-year-old Angolan woman refuted “the unfounded allegations and false statements made against her”.
In Switzerland, the newspaper La Tribune de Genève revealed how Isabel dos Santos’ husband “took control of De Grisogono in 2012, thanks to funds from the state-owned company Sodiam”. At the end of 2017, the Angolan public diamond marketing company (Sodiam) had announced its withdrawal from the capital of the Geneva jeweller.
In a press release quoted by Bloomberg, De Grisogono said he had not found a buyer despite months of discussions. “Without the financial support of the current shareholders, and without a buyer, the solvency of the company is now in question, which makes it impossible to continue the business,” De Grisogono said in his press release.
If the company’s petition for bankruptcy is accepted, all jobs in Switzerland (65 jobs) will probably be lost and some 15 jobs abroad will also be affected.
In total, a mountain of invoices worth an estimated CHF 1.4 million remains unpaid, in particular opposite to various subcontractors in the Jura Arc.
