A French court on Monday ruled against Teodorin Obiang, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, who is also the president's son, in a years-long embezzlement process launched by a group of anti-corruption NGOs.
Obiang was ordered to pay a €30 million ($32.9 million) fine. He also faces a suspended jail term of three years after a lower court found him guilty on a range of charges relating to graft and money laundering. Additionally, the Paris appeals court confirmed the seizure of his property, including a six-level mansion in Paris which had been valued at €107 million in 2012.
The ruling is an "important moment," said Marc-Andre Feffer of Transparency International France, which was among the NGOs spearheading the case.
It "seemed unacceptable to us for France to remain a place where foreign leaders could launder dirty money from the embezzlement of public funds by buying buildings and so on," he told the DPA news agency.
Obiang has also been investigated by Swiss and US authorities. In 2014, the US Justice Department forced him to give up more than $30 million in assets, including a Malibu mansion. Last year, Swiss authorities sold a fleet of 25 supercars they had seized from Obiang. The officials raised €21 million from the sale and used to funds to finance social work in Equatorial Guinea.https://www.dw.com/en/france-fines-son-of-equatorial-guinea-leader-30-million-for-corruption/a-52330834
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