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Subscribe to RSSPARIS -- Two French judges sought an international arrest warrant for the son of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema on money laundering charges, a judicial source said on Tuesday.
The two judges, Roger Le Loire and Rene Grouman, consider there are grounds to suspect that Teodorin Obiang, who is agriculture minister in the small, oil-rich central African country, acquired real estate in France by fraudulent means.
The warrant will not be released until a prosecutor has reviewed the request and decides whether to proceed.
Extravagant lifestyle
Teodorin is frequently seen enjoying an extravagant lifestyle abroad with multi-million dollar mansions, jets and yachts. Billboards in the capital Malabo seek to show him at work and in touch with the people, but diplomats and analysts cite his playboy lifestyle as a cause for concern.
The French judges, who have been handling the case since 2010 on the basis of "concealment of embezzled public funds," suspect that the properties were purchased with public money from Equatorial Guinea.
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The judges had previously sought permission from the government of Equatorial Guinea to question Teodorin, but that request was rejected, Olivier Pardo, lawyer for the oil-producing nation, told Reuters in Paris.
"Unless one wishes to violate the sovereignty of the State of Equatorial Guinea and harm relations between France and Equatorial Guinea, it is absurd to want to launch an arrest warrant," he said.
Paris raid
As part of the investigation, French police raided a building belonging to Equatorial Guinea in a wealthy area of Paris in February. After three days they removed art works and fine wines worth several million euros.
The building was valued at about 150 million euros ($200 million) and investigators say it housed a nightclub and hairdressers, which suggested it was not being used as a diplomatic residence.
Anti-corruption organization Transparency International had filed the original legal complaint against Teodorin Obiang.
On March 1, Teodorin filed for defamation against Daniel Lebegue, the president of the French arm of Transparency, denying he had embezzled funds.
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President Teodoro Obiang has ruled the former Spanish colony for more than three decades, making him the longest-serving African leader following the demise of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, with rights groups labelling his regime one of the world's most corrupt.
The country produces about 240,000 barrels of oil per day.
'Character assassination'
In January, Teodorin asked a U.S. court to dismiss attempts by the Obama administration to seize some $71 million worth of his assets, denying charges that they were obtained with allegedly corrupt funds taken from his country.
He argued he had not violated U.S. or Equatorial Guinea law and called the corruption allegations "character assassination" against him and his country.
Equatorial Guinea in October said it wanted to appoint Teodorin as its deputy permanent delegate at U.N. cultural agency UNESCO in Paris, a position that would give him diplomatic status in France. Until now the agency has not received any official documentation to proceed further with that request.
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Looks like someone else got caught with their hands in the cookie jar !!!!
Wounder how much this will cost daddy to get the kid out of this mess ???
Difficult to remain righteous with so much injustice in this World. Economic slavery is still alive and kicking. During chain slavery it was these kinds of 'rulers' who would enslave their own people for trade and profit. Now days slavery is done by and through 'legitimate' governments and their central banking economies they would have you believe in. Slavery by Consent. The time has come for a new paradigm.
It would seem to me that the only ones who should be able to charge a person with embezzling funds from a government would be the government that is the victim of the embezzlement. What business is it of the French to say what is appropriate or not appropriate for another sovereign nation to do with it's own government funds. I am not defending Obiang or his son since they are both no doubt stealing the wealth of their country. All I am saying is that it is up to the people of that country to do something about it if they so choose, it is not up to the French government. If and when Obiang is forced from power the new government can seek to recover any illegally taken government assets the same way the new Libyan government is attempting to recover assets looted by the Gadhafi's. Until then, I do not see what legal basis the French have to do anything. They certainly never took any action against Gadhafi or any of his family when they were in power in Libya and obviously using government assets for their own personal uses.
JS,
If there is suspicion of corruption by Theodorin and his father, anything they purchase in other countries is suspect. France suspects Theodorin of money laundring and misuse of a diplomatic property. As long as this is done on French soil they have the right to poke their noses as far as they see fit.
You'll notice the US started to do the same, but Theodorin fought it. I'm sure there have been other questionable situations involving this guy.
70% of the population in EG lives on less than $2 a day. The population is less than 700K. It is one of the smallest countries in the world and the smallest in Africa. At $100 a barrel that is $ 24,000,000 a day. A lot of people are stealing the wealth of the people. Say what you want about the Gulf States their people do much better and get a better deal.
JS I agree with you. If an investigation leading to transparency is to take place it should be led by the African Union not by France or the US. Big oil is probably what their after not necessarily justice for the people of EG.
Africa in the news AGAIN?
Huh, another african scam. Big surprise.
There should be a couple of Scummy Awards, for both father and son...But if Ghaddafi and Mubarak both got deposed, you can bet both Obiangs, Junior and Senior, are nervously looking over their shoulders. Sooner or later, they'll tick off the wrong people, and if they're lucky, they'll escape the noose (or firing squad).
These little poor African countries are unable to handle themselves. Remember when they were colonies they worked well as they had a "parent" overseer to manage them. Left to themselves they just make themselves look foolish and immature.
Not too much different than the politicians in the US. If you think this country's policitians are much different than some of the rulers in one of the 54 countries on the African continent, than you haven't been paying attention. Politicians here have just figured out how to hide graft better and aren't quite so blatant about it. Does Halliburton ring a bell?
Do you think the millions of people in Belgian Congo who were either murderd, chained, or had hands and feet amputated were "better" under a colonial regime???
Genocide scholar Adam Jones comments, “The result was one of the most brutal and all-encompassing corvée institutions the world has known . . . Male rubber tappers and porters were mercilessly exploited and driven to death.”[6] Leopold's agents held the wives and children of these men hostage until they returned with their rubber quota.[5] Those who refused or failed to supply enough rubber often had their villages burned down, children murdered, and their hands cut off.."
http://www.yale.edu/gsp/colonial/belgian_congo/index.html
The French, German, Portugese, and Belgians all exercised direct rule in Africa.
As Khapoya discusses (pp. 134–143) all colonial powers exercised significant attention to the economics of the situation. This included: acquisition of land, enforced labour, introduction of cash crops, even to the neglect of food crops, halting inter-African trading patterns of pre-colonial times, introduction of labourers from India, etc. and the continuation of Africa as a source of raw materials for European industry, therefore a continent not to be industrialised.[15]
Your ignorance and racism is so disgusting it has the ability to produce nausea via a computer screen.
Well said Ivanho75. Another believer in the white man's burden who remains blissfully ignorant to the true toll of this chapter in history.
William,
This is why so many people of color distrust many Europeans and their decendants! Many actually believe that the "savages" (i.e. Africans, African Americans, Indians and all of the other colonized populations) are better off in light of the imperialism imposed upon them.
Civilization is really a realtive term. Not everyone wants to walk around covering the natural beauty of their bodies, and beholden to a large government apparatus. Some people just want to be left to their simple lives.
Some might say "ignorance is bliss", but who's really ignorant! Why would anyone want to be in a situation where they can not feed their family using the resources obtained directly from the earth. Supermarkets don't necessarily have to sell you food and will not necessarily always be around.
It's like the Matirx! Those living in "civilization" are the ones who are really ignorant!
True words ivanho75 - Africa was better off before invasion by colonists and let's not forget invasions by the British, Spanish, Dutch and Italians as well. The big land grab of Africa with European countries rushing to steal the land and plunder resources has had dire consequences for African people.
It is good that the search for 1%'s is being conducted across sovereign borders.
They all need eliminated so the people can have their world back.
This World Court outfit is tyranny.
everyone knows that the U.S. GOVT. is corrupt and they just jump from one seat of power to the next and NO ONE is ever charged with a crime, just swept under the rug!
Ron,
What does that have to do with the story?
It sounds like another Hussein, Kadhafi, Assad, Mubarak situation. Who knows, it may just be a matter of time before they are removed. Though as long as they are paying the people closest to them really well, they may be pretty secure. That's how Chavez and Castro stayed in power...though, I guess Chavez is the closest comparison to Guinea.
Just shows you how wisely your US aid to that part of the world is spent.
Next time forget the cash, well just send George Clooney (one way)
Errr..... "Longest-serving"??? You mean "Longer-oppressing" surely, right?
I would say you're correct on that one...but stop calling me Surely (Shirley). [sorry, bad joke]
We have all these ICBM's and never use them... perhaps we could spare one for this "country"? You know, just to wake everyone up a little??
Have they checked the Whitehouse? It could be O'bama's brother/son/cousin/uncle/aunt.
@cunical - If you'd attempt to rise above your pervasive ignorance and bother to look at a map, you'd discover that Equatorial Guinea and Kenya, the home of President Obama's relatives, are on opposite sides of the continent. There are 54 countries that are considered part of the African Continent. It's amazing what you can learn when you discover that Google is your friend and actually look at a map!
Haha, cunical! Codger64 made you look like a dumb a@%
Just another Afrikan Slave nation. There are just black masters now.
How is this different from our own politicians? It seems like all of them become millionaires while in office.
Every time I fill up at the gas pumps......I lose all respect for any of these oil producing countries!! They can all go to hell.....and their a-hole kids too.
Ruler for 30 years and of course they're corrupt.
I do not know French real estate law, but for most if not all states in the US, ANY real estate transaction secured via illegal or fraudulent funds is illegal and makes the transaction null and void.
Essentially what they are telling French authorities is, "don't mess with our corrupt officials. We will continue to pilfer the public treasury and you can butt out!"
I guess Obama is giving away American tax payers $$$ for this also.
Africans were massacring each other long before Europeans colonized the continent. If 10 million died at the hands of the Belgians in the Congo, how much of that is the same inter-ethnic fighting we see today? Like how they claim the U.S. killed a million people in Iraq when most of it was due to Sunni and Shiite death squads. Africans themselves profited a great deal in the continent's slave and other trades by selling out their own. How long is the colonialism excuse going to be used? Africans won't be able to play these games with the new kid on the block, China.
Moose you're misinformed, inter-continental slave trade with in Africa was of no comparison to the Arab enslavement model later adopted by the Europeans and the Americans. The African slave model was more of a prison system since there weren't any jails. Under the African model the enslaved could inner-marry with the family or choose to be part of the family once they were free and were often treated as extended family. The horrifically cruel, dehumanizing and barbaric nature of Arab, European and American enslavement was solely based on perceived racial supremacy and greed for free labor. The argument that Africans became rich selling each other into slavery is weak as many millions were kidnapped and no payment whatsoever was given to rulers. There's much documented proof of this in both US and European history but we always hear the same tired arguments.