The Face of Corruption
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Equatorial Guinea President, Teodor Obiang Nguema is as bad as any dictator on the continent .... in fact he may well be the most corrupt of them all, and that's some claim considering the opposition.
In 2004, a US Senate investigation discovered that Mr Obiang, and members of his family, were the signatories to accounts at Riggs Bank in the US which had received millions of dollars in revenues from the central African country's oil wells.
'Teodorin' Shows Off What Corruption Buys An Ugly Man. |
A Justice Department memorandum from September of 2007 noted that Teodorin's salary as Minister of the Agriculture and Forestry paid only $5,000 per month. “It is suspected that a large portion of Teodoro Nguema OBIANG's assets have originated from extortion, theft of public funds, or other corrupt conduct,” said the document, which also detailed how between 2005 and 2007 Teodorin had funnelled into the United States at least $75 million — nearly twice the amount allocated by Equatorial Guinea for its yearly national education budget.
Oddly his jaunts across the US (and France) are unaffected by the 2004, George W. Bush Presidential Proclamation 7750, which barred corrupt foreign officials from entering the United States and ordered the State Department to compile a list of banned individuals. Three years later Congress approved a complementary measure that said the State Department should take special heed to bar officials when there was “credible evidence” to believe they were involved the theft of natural resources revenues.
Its not as though he is sneaking about .... and he has been investigated. The London-based Global Witness organisation has shown that an extensive federal investigation of Obiang Mangue was underway a few years ago. Global Witness's report on the U.S. investigation into Obiang Mangue is available here .
France has occasionally shown some interest in prosecuting the numerous dictators who own chalets etc inside its borders, but the process has been at best stuttering, and at worst, suggestive that corruption isn't just an issue in Africa ..... If we aid the corrupt in moving billions of stolen dollars out of Russia, Africa and Asia, then we are as guilty as they are, and have no room to wag fingers at them for allowing it to flourish.
Update 26/10/2011: The US and France are taking action against Mr Obiang, and members of his family ... read more here with 'Teodorin' Obiang Mangue having £150m seized in France alone.
After much huffing and puffing a French trial 'in absentia' of Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue for several counts of corruption and money-laundering concluded in October 2017 with Teodorin receiving a suspended sentence of three years plus a suspended fine of €30 million. His properties in France, as well as 17 luxury cars, were also seized, including the Parisian mansion.
ReplyDeleteAlso in 2017 Swiss prosecutors seized 11 luxury cars belonging to Teodorin Obiang. They said he had plundered his country's oil wealth to buy luxuries, including a private jet and Michael Jackson memorabilia.
While in 2018, Authorities in Brazil seized more than $16m (£12m) worth of cash and luxury watches from a delegation accompanying Teodorin Obiang, who is now vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, and who travels under diplomatic immunity.
All of which seizures are better than the US or any other Wstern countries have managed ... this family are a stain on the continent.