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France’s highest court of appeal ruled on Wednesday on the conviction of the powerful son of the president of Equatorial Guinea for building up luxury assets in the country with illegally obtained funds.
If the Court of Cassation rejects the appeal of Teodorin Obiang, vice-president of the poverty-stricken Central African country, his assets could be redistributed to the country’s population under a new French law passed this month .
The case against Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang, who has ruled the country since 1979, is the most advanced of several open in France against mainly African elites for ill-generated goods.
The move will come two days after Equatorial Guinea closed its embassy in London following a decision by Britain to impose sanctions on Teodorin Obiang.
Britain accused Teodorin Obiang of embezzling state assets from his own bank accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle, including mansions around the world, fancy cars and the crystal-covered glove that Michael Jackson wore it on his 1987-89 “Bad” tour.
Teodorin Obiang was first convicted in France in 2017 and again on appeal in February 2020 when he was sentenced in absentia to three years in prison, fined 30 million euros ($ 35 million) and possession of all assets seized in connection with the investigation. confiscated.
The day after this verdict, his defense announced that it would take the case to the Court of Cassation.
Embassy or home?
Teodorin Obiang, 52, who oversees the country’s defense and security, has long been known for his luxurious tastes and wildly extravagant vacations.
The French judicial authorities have estimated at 150 million euros the amount he laundered in France to build up assets including cars valued at 5.7 million euros with three Bugattis, a Rolls-Royce and two Maseratis.
Among the seized assets, a luxurious building on the elegant avenue Foch in Paris, with a cinema, a hammam and marble and gold taps, is estimated at 107 million euros.
Equatorial Guinea challenged the confiscation of the building before the International Court of Justice, arguing that the building served as the country’s embassy in France.
But the UN tribunal sided with France, which said the building was only Teodorin Obiang’s residence with no diplomatic purpose.
If the conviction is upheld by the Court of Cassation, a new law passed by Parliament on July 20 would see the value of assets redistributed to the country’s population rather than being absorbed into the French budget.
It is not immediately clear what mechanism would be used to distribute wealth among the poorest strata of society in the oil-rich country.
Investigations against ill-generated assets in France were launched from 2010 after complaints launched by the NGOs Transparency International and Sherpa.
Teodorin Obiang was the first to be sentenced and cases are ongoing against the families of Gabonese President Ali Bongo, son of longtime leader Omar Bongo, and President of the Republic of Congo Denis Sassou Nguesso.
In June 2020, a Paris court found the uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad guilty of embezzling public funds in Syria, laundering loot and building a large real estate portfolio in France.
Rifaat al-Assad, 83, nicknamed the “Butcher of Hama” for allegedly commanding troops that suppressed an uprising in central Syria in 1982, lives in France but is unlikely to serve his sentence of four years considering his advanced age.
He is currently appealing the conviction.
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