Reacting to alleged financial schemes of Angolan businesswoman Isabel dos Santos, which also affects EU member states such as Portugal, Sven Giegold spoke of a "shocking scandal because it hits one of the poorest countries in the world," Angola.

The German member of the European Green party, who is an activist in denouncing cases of corruption such as the 'LuxLeaks' or the 'Panamá Papers', having shared this 'task' with Portuguese MEP Ana Gomes, stressed that "there is something Portugal should do" after the release of the 'Luanda Leaks'.

"The Portuguese government should put an end to 'gold' visas [residence permits granted to foreign investors] because this allows this type of case to occur, and makes it easier to do business in Europe without the control of banking supervisors" and also "facilitates transactions with dirty money".

"It is unacceptable for the Portuguese government, as a centre-left government, to support this kind of system", insisted Sven Giegold, arguing that "Portugal has an important role" in this financial scandal in Angola.

As far as the European Parliament is concerned, Giegold said there should be a "public debate" on the case at the next plenary session from 10 to 13 February, but he pointed out that this depends on the agenda and availability of the political groups.

As for the Commission, Giegold suggested that the laws to combat tax avoidance and evasion should be tightened and harmonised across the EU, bearing in mind that "there are many differences in tax regimes" between member states.

He also called for sanctions in the case of the 'Luanda Leaks', on "banks and supervisors who allegedly did not follow the anti-money laundering law".

"The documents revealed show that the money came from dubious sources and this shows that these entities, which should have respected the law, did not take the necessary steps," he said.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism revealed on Sunday more than 715,000 files, under the name of 'Luanda Leaks', detailing financial schemes of Isabel dos Santos and her husband, Sindika Dokolo, which would have allowed money to be taken from the Angolan public treasury, using tax havens.

According to the investigation, Isabel dos Santos allegedly set up a cover-up scheme that allowed her to divert more than US$100 million (about €90 million) to a Dubai-based company with Paula Oliveira, a friend of Isabel dos Santos and administrator of the multimedia operator NOS, as the only declared shareholder.