France charges son of E-Guinea’s leader with money laundering

Teodorin Obiang was charged as part of a corruption probe launched in December 2010 to determine whether three long-serving African leaders used corrupt means to acquire expensive properties in France.

The investigation focused on Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, late Gabonese president Omar Bongo Ondimba, and the Obiang family.

French authorities have already seized the Obiang family’s six-storey mansion on the chic Avenue Foch in Paris as well as several luxury cars.

They also took away vanloads of possessions including paintings by famous artists, a clock worth an estimated three million euros ($4.2 million) and wines worth thousands of euros a bottle.

Teodorin Obiang, the son of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang, was informed that he was put under investigation by video conference from his country, his lawyer Emmanuel Marsigny told Reuters.

Under French criminal law, a formal investigation means there is “serious or consistent evidence” pointing to likely implication of a suspect in a crime. It is one step closer to a trial, but some such investigations have been dropped without going to court.

Teodorin Obiang is the Agriculture Minister and second Vice President of the small central African state, where a majority of the population lives in poverty despite rich oil reserves and forests. He also faces money-laundering charges in the United States.

Obiang has denied wrongdoing and said his wealth, which has allowed him to purchase luxury real estate in Paris, a private jet and a stable of exotic sports cars, was amassed legitimately through successful business dealings.

In June 2013, a French court rejected a bid by Equatorial Guinea to get the preliminary probe annulled and also contested the seizure of a Paris luxury property that investigators considered to belong to Teodorin Obiang.
Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has been ruled with an iron fist by Teodoro Obiang Nguema since 1979.