Get Guardian on GoogleA court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga, nephew of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to eight years’ imprisonment for embezzlement of public funds.
Engonga, who once served as head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, was convicted alongside five other senior government officials by the Bioko Provincial Tribunal on Tuesday, 26 August. The court ruled that the officials diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state treasury of the oil-rich Central African country.
In addition to the custodial sentence, Engonga was ordered to pay a fine of $220,000. Three former directors-general in the Ministry of Finance — Ireneo Mangue Monsuy Afana, Baltasar Ebang Engonga Alú, and Rubén Félix Osá Nzang — received the same eight-year prison term and were directed to refund millions to the public treasury.
The tribunal also handed down lighter sentences to other officials: Rolando Asumu Ndong Oyé, Carmelo Julio Motogo Ndong, and Florentina Ngangá Iñandji were found guilty as accomplices and sentenced to three years in prison each, with fines ranging between 16 and 31 million CFA francs.
The conviction of Engonga follows his dramatic fall from grace. In November 2024, President Obiang dismissed him under Decree No. 118 after videos allegedly showing him in compromising situations with women circulated widely on social media.
The scandal, which attracted international attention, led to his suspension from public office and subsequent detention on suspicion of corruption.
Engonga, once charged with investigating financial crimes such as money laundering, now finds himself on the other side of the law. He had been in custody since October 2024 before his trial concluded this week.
The sentencing marks one of the most high-profile corruption cases in Equatorial Guinea in recent years.
