Equatorial Guinea President’s Nephew Ebang Engonga jailed for eight years ove embezzlement
The court also imposed a fine of around $220,000 (Sh28.4 million), a significant penalty in the small, oil-rich Central African state.
A court in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga, a nephew of long-time President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to eight years in prison for embezzling public funds.
The provincial court in Bioko ruled that Ebang, once head of the National Financial Investigations Agency, illegally diverted public funds that had been set aside for travel expenses.
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Ebang, widely known by his nickname "Bello," was accused alongside five other officials.
The court also imposed a fine of around $220,000 (Sh28.4 million), a significant penalty in the small, oil-rich Central African state.
The case has drawn international attention not only for financial crimes but also for a sex scandal that embarrassed the government. The tapes surfaced online in November last year, showing Ebang with the wives of other senior figures. Some of the clips were filmed in his own office.
The scandal sparked ridicule inside the country and beyond, with online users mocking the disgraced official with parody songs, dances, memes, and even inventing a fictional virility drug named after Ebang.
It similarly exposed the secretive nature of President Obiang's government, which has often been criticised for silencing critics and controlling the media.
The Equatorial Guinea government has likewise been criticised for rampant corruption despite the country's vast resources.
The Obiang family and close associates have faced investigations abroad, particularly in France and the United States, for alleged money laundering and misuse of state funds.
In 2007, for instance, French authorities began investigating Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the president's son and current vice president, over suspicions of money laundering and misuse of public funds.
The case culminated in 2017 when a Paris court handed him a suspended three-year jail term and imposed a €30 million (Sh4.4 billion) fine. Judges also ordered the confiscation of his French mansion, luxury cars and artworks, saying they were purchased with stolen state funds.
In the United States, a separate probe was launched in 2011 under the Department of Justice's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. By 2014, Obiang Mangue agreed to surrender more than $30 million (Sh3.8 billion) worth of property after being accused of using state wealth to fund his extravagant lifestyle.
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