Gusher to a Few, Trickle to the Rest

The transfer order alarmed the two banks and the U.S. Embassy in Angola. "We had questions about the origin and nature of the money, and the Angolan government could not provide an explanation," recalled Shawn Sullivan, who was the embassy's political and economic counselor at the time. To prevent seizure of the $50 million, Jaime withdrew the transfer order, Sullivan said.

Citibank, Bank of America and Jaime declined to comment on the transfer order.

* French oil giant Elf (now part of TotalFinaElf) pumped money into offshore accounts held by African officials, prosecutors charged in a trial last year in Paris. A former top official at Elf told investigators he had moved millions of dollars in payoffs to "ruling families" in Angola and two other African countries where the company operated. The trial concluded with the conviction on corruption charges and jailing of three former senior Elf executives, including Andre Tarallo, who had been known as "Mr. Africa" because of his role in overseeing the company's operations on the continent.

The Dos Santos government denied the allegations, saying the charges were "dubious and irresponsible" and part of "defamation campaigns" against Angola's president.

Some Angolan officials acknowledge that corruption has been a problem. Manuel Neto da Costa, director of studies at Angola's Ministry of Finance, points to the creation of an Accounting Court to monitor government expenditures and prosecute corrupt officials.

"We understand that more needs to be done," he said in an interview last year.

But Sullivan, the former U.S. diplomat, said Angola has no genuine interest in greater transparency. "They have created a system that is based on corruption and patronage, and they are unwilling to change it because it is the source of their wealth."

A Foundation's Backers

Oil companies in Angola say they create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in revenue for the country.

"If well managed, [oil] revenues can make a huge contribution to economic and social development," said Simon Buerk, a Shell spokesman. "If poorly managed, they can exacerbate poverty, corruption and poor governance."

The companies also say they spend heavily on social endeavors, from a ChevronTexaco initiative to fight AIDS to an ExxonMobil-backed plan to combat malaria. Yet they privately acknowledge that some of their donations are aimed more at winning support from high-ranking authorities than at helping average people.