Tom Chiahemen
A French court has handed a three-year jail term to Teodorin Obiang Nguema, vice-president of Equatorial Guinea in a corruption case known as the ‘ill-gotten assets’ saga.
A Paris court in January this year, opened a corruption, embezzlement and misuse of public funds case against Teodorin, who is the first son of the country’s long-serving leader, Teodore Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
According to the prosecutor who pushed for a three-year jail term, aside the confiscation of the stylish 48-year-old’s properties and the jail term, he should also be made to pay a fine of over 30 million euros – another appeal that was held by the court.
Teodorin was tried in absentia despite having repeatedly denied all the charges. The Central African country failed in its bid to stop the Paris court from trying him with the reason that it was against international law.
But in December 2016, the International Court of Justice in the Hague rejected a request by Equatorial Guinea to suspend the case.
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