Three days after the revelation dubbed "Luanda Leaks", a banker cited in this case of embezzlement and money laundering by   the richest woman in Africa, Isabel dos Santos, was found dead in Lisbon.

Nuno Ribeiro da Cunha, 45, managed the account of the oil firm Sonangol, formerly chaired by Ms Dos Santos, at the EuroBic bank.M. Da Cunha was found dead in one of his properties in Lisbon. A police source told Portuguese media that "everything indicates a suicide." Local media quoted police as saying that Da Cunha had previously attempted suicide this month and was suffering from depression.

On Wednesday, EuroBic announced that it would end its business relationship with Ms Dos Santos, who would be the bank's main shareholder through two companies it owns. It was later reported that Ms. Dos Santos was selling her stake in the bank.

The bank added that it would investigate the transfers worth tens of millions of dollars it had made. Some of the transfers emptied Sonangol's account at EuroBic, the New York Times reports. On Thursday, Dos Santos called the allegations against her "extremely misleading and false."

 
Angolan prosecutors are seeking to recover $1 billion (£760 million) that Ms Dos Santos and her associates would be liable to the state.

"Isabel dos Santos is accused of mismanagement and embezzlement during her tenure in Sonangol," Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros said At a news conference on Wednesday. He said that as a result, she was provisionally charged with "money laundering, influence peddling and document counterfeiting, among other economic crimes". Angolan authorities will now conduct a criminal investigation to determine whether she should be formally charged.