Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos, has been accused of embezzlement and money laundering by prosecutors in Angola.

Attorney General Helder Pitta Gros said the allegations related to her time as chairwoman of state oil firm, Sonangol. He also called on Ms Dos Santos to return to Angola and face potential criminal charges.

Hundreds of thousands of files about dos Santos were obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and released by several news organisations on Sunday. The files have been dubbed by journalists as the “Luanda Leaks”. The government alleges that the daughter of ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos plundered state coffers to build her fortune estimated at $2.1 billion (€1.82 billion).

Ms Dos Santos has denied the corruption allegedly revealed by the  leaked documents.

She is accused of using her father’s backing to plunder state funds from the oil-rich but poor African country and of building her business empire by moving the money abroad with the help of Western firms, including transfers between Angola and Dubai.

The billionaire who currently lives in the UK recently made known her intention to contest for the Angola Presidency.

Her father, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, was Angola’s president for 38 years before he stepped down in 2017.