A former General Electric executive has been charged with fraud, accused of using forged documents to coax the government of Angola into terminating contracts with another company over a $1.1 billion power and water project.
Wilson Daniel Freita Da Costa, who was a senior executive at GE in the southern African country, was charged with fraud and identity theft in a four-count indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday.
The criminal charges follow a long-running dispute between GE and a Portuguese-owned infrastructure firm, Aenergy SA, that leveled allegations of reckless conduct and a coverup against the American corporation.
The brief indictment accused Da Costa of forging documents purportedly from government officials in Angola as part of the scheme between 2017 and 2019.
"GE is deeply committed to integrity, compliance, and the rule of law in every country in which we operate," a GE spokesperson said. "These claims concern unauthorized alleged actions made in 2017 by a former employee engaging in a scheme to forge documents. GE is disturbed by the alleged actions and is cooperating fully with the DOJ investigation."
According to a lawsuit filed in 2022, GE agreed to supply Aenergy with wind turbines as part of a power and water project in Angola, and to extend a $1.1 billion credit facility to the Angolan government to finance Aenergy's pipeline of projects.
The deal fell apart, Aenergy said, when GE manipulated its turbine sales to prop up its revenue figures. Da Costa, according to the suit, falsified documents using an Aenergy employee's signature to persuade Angolan officials to cut ties with Aenergy in a move that would shield GE from responsibility.
At the same time, according to the suit, GE legal and accounting teams were investigating how accurately the turbine sales were reflected on the company's books. The Angolan government terminated contracts with Aenergy and proposed transferring the work directly to GE.
The lawsuit, in federal court in Connecticut, was dismissed subject to GE agreeing to litigate the case in Angola.
