LISBON 27 Jan (ANA) - A Portuguese hacker has taken responsibility for disclosing hundreds of thousands of files revealing how billionaire Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angola's former president built a vast business empire, his lawyers said.

 

The hacker, Rui Pinto, handed over a hard drive "containing all data related to the recent revelations concerning Ms Isabel Dos Santos's fortune" to a whistle-blowing organisation in 2018, his lawyers said on Monday.

 

Pinto, 31, is awaiting trial in a Lisbon jail for extortion and other crimes, having claimed to be behind "Football Leaks" - a high-profile trove of 70 million documents that exposed the dealings of European football clubs. His defence team said he was acting in the public interest.

 

Lawyers William Bourdon and Francisco Teixeira da Mota said their client was also behind the "Luanda Leaks" - more than 700,000 documents "containing all data related to the recent revelations concerning Isabel dos Santos' fortune, her family's and all the actors that might be involved".

 

"Without the immense Luanda Leaks revelations, made possible thanks to our client, the regulatory, police and judicial authorities would have done nothing," the lawyers said.

 

Pinto gave the hard drive with the documents to the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) at the end of 2018, the lawyers said. PPLAAF passed it to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which, along with 37 media partners, released findings last week.ANA)

FA/ANA/27 January 2020--------