Equatorial Guinea: kleptocracy

Written by David Fletcher 23 Jul 2021
Equatorial Guinea: kleptocracy

Revelations by courageous investigative journalists reveal kleptocracy in Equatorial Guinea. A recent cross-border investigation exposed how Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima - the President’s son, and the country’s oil minister - may have siphoned off millions in state funds and bribes abroad. Journalists tracked down an international web of shell companies and properties linked to him, including a Cyprus company and its subsidiaries in other countries. Another corruption investigation, released this week, implicates two more individuals related to the Obiangs who run Equatorial Guinea's state oil company. Journalists discovered the oil industry power couple had luxury properties around the world that even their hefty pay packages cannot explain. In Cyprus they purchased a €2.5 million villa to obtain golden EU passports. The international community needs to make it much more difficult, and eventually impossible, for the kleptocrats to enjoy the proceeds of their crimes, deterring them from stealing from their people in the first place.

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