Teodorin Obiang | The FCPA Blog

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Thomas Fox
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Marc Alain Bohn
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Bill Waite
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Shruti J. Shah
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Russell A. Stamets
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Richard Bistrong
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Eric Carlson
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Bill Steinman
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Kleptobrat Teddy Obiang’s ludicrous supercar collection heads to Geneva auction

Harry Cassin July 5, 2019

Twenty-five supercars seized by Switzerland in 2016 from Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea and son of the president, will be auctioned to the public in September.

The auction is expected to raise around $13 million, auction handlers Bonhams said in a statement.

The collection is being “offered for sale by the State of Geneva, to be sold without reserve,” Bonhams said.

Mauro Contessotto, the state auctioneer for Geneva, will conduct the proceedings.

Some of the supercars on offer include a Lamborghini Veneno ($5 million), Ferrari – La Ferrari ($2.6 million), Koenigsegg One:1 ($1.8 million), McLaren P1 ($1.5 million), and a Bugatti Veyron 16.4 ($700,000).… Continue Reading

Kleptocurrency: $16 million seized from Equatorial Guinea VP in Brazil

Harry Cassin September 17, 2018

Police in Brazil confiscated a bag of luxury watches and cash from Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue and his entourage after their private plane landed at an airport near Sao Paulo.

Obiang is the vice president of Equatorial Guinea and son of the president.

According to reports, police searched the luggage and found around $1.5 million of cash in one bag, and watches worth around $15 million in another.

The eleven-person entourage arrived last Friday at the Viracopos airport outside Sao Paulo by private jet, the Guardian said.

It’s illegal to enter Brazil with more than 10,000 reais ($2,400) in cash without declaring it.… Continue Reading

How do kleptocrats spend the money?

Harry Cassin July 10, 2018

Last week police in Malaysia arrested former prime minister Najib Razak after seizing $273 million of loot from his houses and condos.

Prosecutors think Najib and his wife bought the loot with money stolen from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB.… Continue Reading

French court strips Obiang of local assets after embezzlement conviction

Richard L. Cassin November 3, 2017

A French court last week convicted Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea and son of the president, of embezzling public money and spending it on himself.

The judge confiscated all of Obiang’s assets in France, fined him €30 million ($35 million), and gave him a suspended three-year prison sentence.… Continue Reading

Alexandra Gillies: Congress can (and should) fix the law on shell companies

Alexandra Gillies July 20, 2017

Shell companies have been called the “getaway cars” of corruption. In some jurisdictions, including the United States, individuals can easily set up anonymous companies and use them to hide stolen funds.… Continue Reading

Teddy Obiang on trial in Paris for embezzlement

Richard L. Cassin June 22, 2017

The son of Equatorial Guinea’s president went on trial this week in France for embezzling more than $112 million from his country’s treasury.

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, also known as Teddy Obiang, is the second vice president of Equatorial Guinea.… Continue Reading

FinCEN expands beneficial owner reporting for cash real estate deals

Richard L. Cassin August 2, 2016

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is expanding required reporting of beneficial owners for cash real estate purchases beyond Manhattan and Miami to six new areas in California and Texas.

The Geographic Targeting Orders (GTOs) require title insurance companies to identify the natural persons behind domestic and foreign companies used to pay all cash for luxury residential real estate in six major metropolitan areas.… Continue Reading

Paper: Asset recovery cases against Obiang show weakness in U.S. enforcement regime

Peter Leasure March 30, 2016

A recent paper I published in the Journal of Money Laundering Control looks at a prominent series of cases brought by the United States and France against assets owned by Teodoro Nguema Obiang, Second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and son of the country’s president.… Continue Reading

Martin Kenney: Kleptocracy stinks. The DOJ fights back ‘with impact’

Martin Kenney March 22, 2016

It is repellent to read how a tiny African country like Equatorial Guinea has been systematically plundered. For the culprit to be a member of the ruling family only adds weight to the wrong.… Continue Reading

The BOTA Foundation explained (Part Eleven): Future BOTAs and dictators’ money

Aaron Bornstein April 28, 2015

The BOTA Foundation was able to take the $115 million from the corruption case associated with James GIffen and use it effectively and efficiently to assist more than 200,000 poor children, youth and their families in Kazakhstan.

Created in 2009 based on an agreement by the governments of the U.S., Switzerland and Kazakhstan (brokered by the World Bank), BOTA to date is the only such foundation to emerge from a FCPA prosecution.

The question is: will the BOTA case be unique?… Continue Reading

Public Wrongs, Private Actions: Civil Lawsuits to Recover Stolen Assets

Elizabeth K. Spahn November 17, 2014

With most enforcement pressure bearing down on corporate supply side bribe payers, it is no surprise that the business community feels beleaguered. The fundamental unfairness is of course the impunity with which bribe takers operate, a frequent topic on the FCPA Blog.… Continue Reading

‘Shameless’ kleptocrat Teddy Obiang forfeits $30 million in DOJ settlement

Richard L. Cassin October 13, 2014

The Department of Justice said Friday it reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets in the United States owned by the Second Vice President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro (Teddy) Nguema Obiang Mangue that he purchased with the proceeds of corruption.

The settlement was signed and lodged with the U.S.… Continue Reading