Equatorial Guinea Jails Top Official, Baltasar Engonga Over Sex Tape Scandal, Embezzlement
A provincial court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzling state funds, a case that has gripped the nation following his involvement in a widely circulated sex tape scandal.
The Bioko provincial tribunal convicted Engonga on charges of diverting funds earmarked for professional travel into his personal accounts, according to Hilario Mitogo, press director of the country’s Supreme Court.
Engonga, the former head of the national financial investigation agency, was accused alongside five other senior officials of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent travel expenses.
Beyond the financial crimes, Engonga attracted public notoriety after videos surfaced allegedly showing him in sexual encounters with the wives of other senior officials, sparking a storm of controversy in the oil-rich central African nation.
The married official’s conviction marks one of the highest-profile corruption cases in recent years in Equatorial Guinea, where President Teodoro Obiang’s government has faced repeated accusations of graft and lavish spending by top officials.
