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France’s highest court of appeal upheld the guilty verdict for embezzlement against Teodorin Obiang, vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, which could result in the return of millions of euros in assets to the country
Obiang, also the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, was given a three-year suspended prison sentence and a € 30 million fine in 2020. Luxury residences and sports cars are just a few. some of the items seized in France.
The vice-president of the Gulf of Guinea country has always denied any wrongdoing, stressing that French courts did not have the right to rule on his property, but the Court of Cassation rejected this argument.
“With this decision … France is no longer a paradise for money embezzled by senior foreign leaders and their entourage: assets acquired in France with dirty money will be confiscated and their owners prosecuted and condemned”, Patrick Lefas, of Transparency International France, who was a party to the case, said in a statement.
No further appeal can be made in this case.
Under a new French law, the assets will be put up for sale and stipulate that the money, instead of going to the French state coffers, should return to Equatorial Guinea.
One of the large items seized is a 101-room mansion in the heart of Paris on Avenue Foch. The residence includes a gym, a hairdressing salon and a nightclub with a cinema screen.
The fallout from the trial
On Monday, the British government added Teodorin to a sanctions list. Foreign Minister Dominic Raab said Teodoro Obiang participated in “corrupt contractual deals and solicited bribes, to fund a lavish lifestyle incompatible with his official salary as government minister” .
Human rights groups such as EG Justice are calling on other governments, such as the United States and the European Union, to impose sanctions on the vice president.
In a tit-for-tat move, Equatorial Guinea announced that it was closing its embassy in London, after Teodorin was put on the list of shrines.
Obiang’s father, President Teodoro Obiang has ruled the country since he took power in a bloody coup in 1979, 11 years after gaining independence from Spain.
The country sits on rich oil reserves, but the World Bank estimates that 76% of the population lives in poverty.
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