Baltasar Ebang Engonga, nephew of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and former head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, has been sentenced to eight years in prison following a conviction for embezzlement of public funds. The verdict was delivered by the Bioko Provincial Tribunal on August 27.
Engonga, who had gained national notoriety after hundreds of explicit sex tapes implicating officials’ wives surfaced online in late 2024, was found guilty of diverting government funds intended for official travel into personal accounts. In addition to the custodial sentence, he was fined $220,000 (approximately 125 million CFA francs).
Five other senior officials convicted alongside Engonga received similar eight-year sentences and were ordered to refund substantial amounts to the public treasury. Additional co-defendants were handed shorter sentences ranging from three years, accompanied by varying financial penalties.
Once entrusted with investigating financial crime in the oil-rich nation, Engonga’s fall from grace highlights a rare instance of familial accountability within the Obiang regime.
Equatorial Guinea has long been ranked among the world’s most corrupt nations, making this high-profile conviction a critical moment in the country’s fight against impunity.
