Baltasar Ebang Engonga, a nephew of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema and former head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement.
The court found that Engonga, nicknamed “Bello” due to his good looks, diverted funds for personal use. Last year, he made headlines after leaked sex tapes surfaced showing him with multiple women, many of whom were wives and relatives of influential figures close to the regime.
These videos appeared while Engonga was already in detention, accused of funneling a large sum of embezzled money into secret accounts in the Cayman Islands.
According to BBC reports, Engonga was convicted alongside five other officials who allegedly claimed the misappropriated funds as travel allowances, with amounts ranging from $9,000 (£6,600) to $220,000.
Engonga’s arrest in October, followed by his public disgrace, was widely viewed as an effort to eliminate any prospects he had of succeeding as president of the oil-rich Central African nation. His uncle, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has been in power since 1979, making him the world’s longest-serving head of state, and has named his son, Teodoro Obiang Mangue, as vice-president.
Once an investigator of crimes like money laundering, Engonga found himself imprisoned at the notorious Black Beach prison in the capital, Malabo, on corruption charges.
His phones and computers were seized, and shortly thereafter, dozens of intimate videos began circulating online.
While the authenticity of these videos was never confirmed, suspicion fell on security forces handling his devices, suggesting the leaks were intended to tarnish his reputation.
In addition to the prison sentence, the tribunal also fined Engonga $220,000, according to a message from Hilario Mitogo, the Supreme Court’s press director, according to AFP.
