Trouble for dictator's son from Equatorial Guinea: Prince Protz

2019 is a special year for the presidential family Äqutorialguineas: Head of State Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 77, has 40th official jubilee in August. And in September, son Teodorin, also known in the capital as the "Prince of Malabo", turns 50.

Two round anniversaries at once, it should be celebrated hard. And that although the "prince" in the past few years had to cope with some sensitive financial setbacks. Most recently, it was Obiang, Vice President of Equatorial Guinea and presumably Africa's most glamorous playboy, when he landed in Brazil.

One month after the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final in Moscow, where he posed with Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea jetted to Sâo Paulo. The customs officers found in the luggage of his delegation: Wristwatches worth 15 million dollars with the initials of the Vice-President and 1.5 million dollars in cash. 2400 dollars are allowed on import, the valuables and the money were first withheld.

Because of money laundering: 25 cars and a yacht confiscated

Obiang knows that. Several times, authorities in other countries have already taken enormous assets from the heavyweight politician who staged Instagram on yachts and in luxury hotels.

More than two years ago, the Geneva prosecutor's office tried to prosecute Obiang for money laundering. The result was a comparison between justice and Obiang lawyers. Switzerland seized 25 luxury cars Obiangs - supposedly equatorial Guinean state property - directly at the airport.

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Some of the cars were worth more than a million euros, including a Bugatti Veyron and a Swedish Koenigsegg One, a luxury sports car, of which there are only seven copies according to the manufacturer. The authorities also ordered the confiscation of the 120-million-euro, more than 70-meter-long luxury yacht "Ebony Shine" in the Netherlands.

The cars were auctioned off in favor of social projects in Equatorial Guinea, the country had to transfer 1.3 million francs to Switzerland for litigation and legal costs.

In several African countries, kleptocrats like Obiang are coming under increasing pressure. In neighboring Angola, for example, investigations are underway against the family of ex-president José Eduardo dos Santos, who turned the oil-rich country into their self-service store for 38 years. In South Africa, the so-called Zondo Commission is trying to work on the nine-year foray of President Jacob Zuma. And in the West African Gambia, the people chased away Yahya Jammeh after 22 years. He found refuge with the Obiangs, in Equatorial Guinea.

The USA started in 2014

Teodorin stands out even among the dictator children through his lifestyle. In his own country, his father is the state, that may still work. Abroad he came - after years of inaction by governments, major banks and prosecutors - with his Prasserei now often with the judiciary in conflict.

In 2017, a Paris court sentenced Obiang for money laundering of 150 million euros to three years in prison on probation and a fine of 30 million euros. For the vice president, the process was annoying, he spoke of "Mummenschanz". He still tries to take legal action against the verdict.

Parisian city villa with more than 100 rooms - a message?

To collect the sum, French tax authorities confiscated only the best in the Parisian townhouse Obiangs near the triumphal arch: jewels, champagne, silverware worth tens of thousands of euros - and there too 17 cars of the highest price range.

However, proceedings are pending before the International Court of Justice, as Equatorial Guinea claims that the property, which currently has a value of 100 million euros and more than 100 rooms, is the diplomatic mission of the country.

In total, there were assets of more than 100 million euros, which the president's son "could not finance with his official income," the French court ruled. In the years involved in the process, Obiang's salary as Minister of Agriculture was $ 80,000 a year.

Fairytale rich thanks to tropical wood

Investigators suspected that for him especially the timber export paid off personally. In the past two reporting years (2016 and 2017) of the UN Agriculture Organization, the country, which is smaller than Belgium, sold hundreds of thousands of tons worth half a billion dollars.

On paper, father and son rule a prosperous country. Statistical per capita income is the highest on the continent at about $ 34,000. But Equatorial Guinea is not African Switzerland, on the contrary: A small clique divides the income from the oil, gas and wood business among themselves. How many people belong to it is unclear who is not at the top: Teodoro and Teodorin Obiang, president and deputy, father and son. They are among the richest people in Africa.

By contrast, three out of four of their subjects lived below the poverty line in 2006. There are no newer numbers. Fewer than half of the children go to school, with infant mortality and the simplest vaccinations, the country is one of the African laggards.