Luxury Supercars Seized From Vice President, Son Of Equatorial Guinea Dictator, To Be Auctioned In Switzerland

There is a famous rule of thumb in the political underworld that: be corrupt but make sure you don’t get caught. Because when you’re discovered, the repercussions are enormous; you are likely to lose every material property or money you’ve acquired, and even get jailed.

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In Africa especially, corruption takes form in all sizes and shapes ranging from fraud of all kinds, money laundry, tax evasion and looting including stashing cash in offshore accounts, among others.

And of course, Equatorial Guinea is of one of such African countries that cannot be overlooked in the corruption narrative. The country is said to be ruled by an authoritarian president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo with his son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, being the vice president.

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The vice president has been accused and charged with several cases of corruption, siphoning money and many other allegation.

The latest report indicate that a collection of luxury cars seized from him will be auctioned off in Switzerland. The cars were confiscated by Swiss justice after the opening in 2016 of a financial wrongdoing case against Obiang.

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Among the cars to be auctioned on Sunday are seven Ferraris, three Lamborghinis, five Bentleys, a Maserati and a McLaren.

The cars are a private collection of supercars, with very low mileage. The most expensive lots are a Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, valued at between 4.8 million and 5.7 million euros ($5.2-6.2 million) and a yellow Ferrari hybrid at 2.4-2.6 million euros.

The auction is estimated to bring the Swiss government an estimated 18.5 million Swiss francs ($18.7 million).

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In February Swiss prosecutors said they were dropping charges of financial wrongdoing against Teodorin Obiang Nguema but were confiscating the luxury cars as part of the case.

Under the Swiss penal code, prosecutors can choose to drop charges in this category if defendants offer compensation “and restore a situation that is in conformity with the law”.

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Equatorial Guinea has also agreed to give Geneva 1.3 million Swiss francs to cover the costs of the case.

Vice president with responsibility for defense and security, Teodorin Obiang has a reputation for a playboy lifestyle.

In October 2017 a Paris court handed Obiang a three-year suspended jail term after convicting him of siphoning off public money to buy assets in France.

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He was accused of spending more than 1,000 times his official annual salary on a six-storey mansion in a posh part of the French capital, a fleet of fast cars and artworks, among other assets. He was also given a suspended fine of 30 million euros.

In September, Brazilian media said that more than $16 million in cash and luxury watches were seized by Brazilian police and customs officers from luggage of a delegation accompanying Obiang on a private visit.

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Obiang is reputedly on a fast track to succeed his father. Last October, he was promoted from colonel directly to division general, without passing through the normal intermediary rank of brigade general. The following month, he presided over a cabinet meeting for the first time.

Equatorial Guinea is one of Africa’s top petroleum producers and has a population of just 1.2 million. The country is regularly cited by NGOs as one of the most corrupt in the world.

Source: AfricaCelebrities.com