Fortune and fantasy on Africa's oil frontier
Exterior of Malibu home — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
A 2011 photo provided by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers shows the exterior of the Malibu home of Teodoro Nguema Obiang, the second vice president of Equatorial Guniea.
It may be a drop in the bucket, but the Obiang family will forfeit personal property in the U.S. as part of a corruption settlement.
From the Los Angeles Times:
In a settlement filed in U.S. district court in Los Angeles, Equatorial Guinea Second Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang agreed to give up a $30-million house with a view of the ocean, a collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia and other property, including a Ferrari, to settle corruption claims by federal prosecutors.
The settlement with Obiang, who is the son and heir apparent to the nation’s president, is part of an expanding Justice Department effort — officials call it the “Kleptocracy Initiative” — to crack down on corrupt foreign officials who steal money and use it to live the high life in the U.S.
On the scale, Obiang rates as a winner. The Malibu house, in a gated community that also includes the home of Dick van Dyke, includes a 15,000-square-foot mansion, a three-hole golf course, a swimming pool, ponds and a tennis court.
In court papers, prosecutors said the money to buy the property came from looting the country.
“Through relentless embezzlement and extortion, Vice President Nguema Obiang shamelessly looted his government and shook down businesses in his country to support his lavish lifestyle, while many of his fellow citizens lived in extreme poverty,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Leslie Caldwell said in a statement. “After raking in millions in bribes and kickbacks, Nguema Obiang embarked on a corruption-fueled spending spree in the United States. “
Read the full article here: Foreign official gives up Malibu home in federal ‘kleptocracy’ probe
Christiane Badgley has been producing and editing documentary films for the past twenty years, with much of her work focused on the U.S. criminal justice system and post-colonial African politics and history.
