The daughter of Angola's former president, Isabel dos Santos, has denied allegations of corruption when she was head of the state oil firm, Sonangol.
She described as entirely legitimate a payment of nearly $40m (£29m) to a Dubai-based company after she was dismissed from Sonangol.
She said, under Angolan law, public officials must continue in their roles until a replacement was found.
Last week, the public prosecutor's office opened an investigation into the alleged graft.
Angola's new president Joao Lourenco has taken a number of steps to tackle corruption and nepotism.
Ms dos Santos was fired in November. Her brother José Eduardo dos Santos was removed as head of the country's $5bn (£3.7bn) sovereign wealth fund months later.
