Court jails president’s son over fraud

Equatorial Guinea prosecutors has sought an 18-year jail term for a son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo for selling a plane belonging to the national airline.

They also demanded that Ruslan Obiang Nsue pay a fine of 500 million CFA francs ($850,000).

Authorities started an inquiry in November 2022 after an ATR 72-500 plane belonging to Ceiba Intercontinental, that had been in Spain since 2018, went missing.

The younger Obiang, a former deputy managing director of the airline, admitted to the court that he had made a contract with a Spanish firm to sell the plane but said he only received 125,000 euros ($138,000) of the 250,000 euros promised.

Arrested in January 2023 and placed under house arrest, the 49-year-old, who is also a former secretary of state for sports, was accused of abuse of office, misuse of public assets and embezzling public funds.

The trial was suspended and no date was given for a judgement.

The small west African state has been ruled for more than 45 years by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 82.

His eldest son, Vice President Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, was sentenced to a three-year suspended jail term and a 30 million euro fine by a French court in 2021 for diverting millions of euros of public funds.