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Dutch Seize Luxurious Yacht from Son of Africa’s Longest-Serving President

A few weeks after 11 lavish vehicles belonging to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue , the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, were seized in Switzerland, a 250-feet luxurious yacht belonging to him has been confiscated by the Dutch, reports Quartz Africa .

The $120 million yacht was reportedly seized on Saturday, after it attempted to leave Makkum, Netherlands, for Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea.

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. Photo credit: Mirror

Mangue, who is the first vice president of the oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, has been under investigations in Switzerland over the alleged misappropriation of public funds in his country .

However, he has continuously denied ownership of the luxurious possessions, arguing that they belong to the government of Equatorial Guinea.

Controversial Leadership

Mangue’s political career has been marred by controversy, with U.S. law enforcement officials accusing him of amassing wealth through corruption. They say most of his luxurious possessions come from oil and gas reserves in Equatorial Guinea.

In 2004, Mangue reportedly spent more than R10 million over a weekend in South Africa on champagne, property renovations, a black Bentley Anarge, a cream Bentley Continental R, and a Lamborghini Murcielago.

He currently own two houses in South Africa, worth a total of R50 million and a $31 million property in Malibu, California. Mangue is also reported to own a 5,000-sq-foot home in Paris and hip-hop music recording label TNO Entertainment .

Seized cars. Photo credit: NewsTimeAfrica

In 2011, two of his Bugatti Veyron cars and nine other vehicles belonging to him were seized by French officials investigating corruption. They were eventually auctioned off in 2013.

Observers say Mangue was appointed the vice president of Equatorial Guinea in a bid to ensure he succeeds his father, President Mbasogo, the longest-serving president in the world, when he retires.

Several other expensive properties belonging to Mangue have been seized in the United States and France.

Longest-Serving President  

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Photo credit: GuineaEquatorialPress

President Mbasogo has been in power since 1979, after ousting his uncle  Francisco Macias Nguema  in a military coup.

He has also served as the chairman of the African Union between January 2011 and January 2012.

Over the 37 years he has been in power, President Mbasogo has been accused of corruption and abuse of power. His nature of rule is regarded as non-democratic, especially since the country’s opposition is hardly tolerated.

Equatorial Guinea is currently a non-party state controlled by the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea . The country’s constitution extends the president’s powers by giving him the right to rule by decree.

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Dictator's son had plans drawn up for £234m superyacht

The playboy son of one of Africa's most notorious dictators commissioned plans for a luxury superyacht costing $380m (£234m) – nearly three times his country's combined health and education budgets, according to a corruption watchdog.

Teodorin Obiang, eldest son of Teodoro Obiang , the president of Equatorial Guinea, wanted to build the world's second most expensive yacht after the Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich's $1.2bn Eclipse , the campaign group Global Witness said. It condemned the plan as "outrageous extravagance" in a country where, despite vast oil wealth, 20% of children die before their fifth birthday and few people live beyond 50.

The government of the tiny west African country confirmed that Obiang junior had ordered the yacht design, but said he had decided against going ahead with it.

President Obiang has ruled for more than 30 years and been accused of grave human rights violations. Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at around $600m.

Teodorin Obiang, 41, is his minister of agriculture and apparently being groomed as his father's successor. Global Witness said his "extravagant lifestyle" includes a $35m mansion in Malibu , a $33m jet and a fleet of luxury cars – yet his ministerial salary is $6,799 a month.

Global Witness claimed Obiang asked the German company Kusch Yachts to build the superyacht under the codename "Project Zen". It said Kusch employees told investigators the 387ft yacht would have a cinema, restaurant, bar, pool and a $1.3m security system complete with floor motion sensors, photoelectric barriers and fingerprint door openers. The basic design was completed by Kusch in December 2009 for €250,000 (£212,192) with an original delivery date set for late next year.

Gavin Hayman, the Global Witness director of campaigns, said: "Kusch's motto is, 'We don't just build yachts that you use, we create a dream that you live'. But this sounds more like a nightmare for Equatorial Guinea's oppressed and brutalised citizens, whose money may once again be put to Teodorin's benefit rather than theirs."

Kusch Yachts declined to comment.

Karin Jorgensen, secretary to the managing director, said: "As you will know, everybody working in the business of mega yachts is obliged by contract to strict confidentiality, as far as projects are concerned, and also with respect to clients."

A spokeswoman for the Equatorial Guinea government said: "The minister requested a sketch of the design of a yacht three to four years ago and no contract or agreement exists with the Kusch company.

"If there is no agreement or contract, it is evident that one cannot talk about cost, because there was no major interest in the proposal received and this proposal was not implemented.

"The minister did not order that a yacht be built in order to supposedly pay for it. The minister requested a sketch of what building a yacht would entail, and then dismissed the idea of buying it.

Therefore, there was no agreement or formal order to build the yacht; and if it had been viable to purchase it, he would have bought it with income from his private business activities and not with funds derived from sources of illegal financing or corruption."

In 2006 Obiang junior justified his wealth in a sworn affidavit to a South African court questioning his ownership of luxury mansions and cars. He said officials in his country were allowed to join with foreign companies bidding for government contracts and this means "a cabinet minister ends up with a sizable part of the contract price in his bank account."

A US justice department investigation into US banks accepting some $75m from Teodorin said in a 2007 report that "it is suspected that a large portion of Teodoro Nguema Obiang's assets have originated from extortion, theft of public funds, or other corrupt conduct".

The US state department's most recent human rights assessment for Equatorial Guinea described unlawful killings, torture of prisoners, official impunity, arbitrary arrest and restrictions on free speech.

The writer Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel is in the 17th day of a hunger strike demanding justice for the people of Equatorial Guinea, inspired by the popular revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia.

The Obiang family and President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville are facing a fraud inquiry in Paris for allegedly embezzling state funds to acquire vast assets in France, including bank accounts, villas and luxury cars.

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South African court seizes superyacht and palatial homes of Equatorial Guinea vice-president in $2.2m lawsuit

• South African officials have seized a superyacht and two homes owned by Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang.
• The court ordered the seizures after a local businessman won a lawsuit against Obiang for unlawful arrest and torture, demanding compensation of about $2.2m.
• This is the latest in a series of rulings against Obiang by courts worldwide, as he and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo have been accused of abusing Equatorial Guinea's wealth and resources.

Officials in South Africa have seized two palatial homes and a superyacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea's Vice-President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang, after a local businessman won a lawsuit against him for unlawful arrest and torture. The businessman, Daniel Janse van Rensburg, has demanded compensation of approximately £1.8m ($2.2m). According to Van Rensburg, he was unlawfully detained for 500 days in Equatorial Guinea following a failed business deal.

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The vice president, who is also the son of Equatorial Guinea's long-serving ruler, has yet to comment on the case. However, he and his father have faced allegations of treating the oil-rich country as their personal fiefdom and abusing its resources. This seizure is the latest in a string of rulings against the vice president by courts around the world, according to BBC .

Errol Eldson, the lawyer representing Van Rensburg, has filed an application to auction the seized assets, including a superyacht and two houses in Cape Town. The businessman has been engaged in a lengthy legal battle with the vice president in South African courts and published a book last year recounting his "harrowing incarceration" at Equatorial Guinea's notorious Black Beach prison.

According to Eldson, Van Rensburg set up an airline in Equatorial Guinea with a local politician who later withdrew from the venture and demanded a refund. After the dispute was escalated to the vice-president, an elite security force unit picked up Van Rensburg and threw him into the notorious prison, Eldson said.

Obiang has been accused of corruption in various countries and is known for his lavish lifestyle. In 2014, US authorities seized a $30m mansion in Malibu and a Ferrari car, alleging that they had been purchased with proceeds of corruption. Swiss prosecutors later seized 11 luxury cars belonging to him, which were auctioned off for approximately $27m. In 2021, a French court handed him a suspended sentence and a fine for using public money to fund a luxurious lifestyle in France, which he denied. The same year, the UK imposed "anti-corruption" sanctions on him, alleging that he had misused public funds to acquire a collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including a crystal-covered glove worn by the late pop star on his Bad tour. UK officials said that the sanctions targeted individuals who had enriched themselves at the expense of their citizens. Obiang is widely seen as being groomed by his father to succeed him.

As this case continues to develop, it remains to be seen how it will impact Equatorial Guinea's political landscape and relations with other countries around the world.

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Yacht, homes of Equatorial Guinea’s vice president seized in South Africa

Obiang's furniture from his two residences in cape town's affluent suburbs have already been auctioned..

Vice President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (Photo by Michele Spatari / AFP)

Two homes and a superyacht belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s vice president have been seized in South Africa after a local businessman sued for unlawful arrest and torture, a lawyer said Monday.

A high court ordered the seizure of Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue’s properties, along with his superyacht docked in Cape Town. 

The orders arose from a lawsuit by South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg.

He said he had been unlawfully detained and tortured for 491 days in a notorious Equatorial Guinea jail when a business deal went sour in 2013, his lawyer told AFP.

“We attached (seized) two houses…in Cape Town in a formal application two weeks ago and the superyacht last Tuesday,” lawyer Errol Eldson, told AFP. An application to auction the assets has been filed.

WATCH: ‘You will get paid, no questions asked’ – Viv Reddy offers R5m to anyone who can prove he’s corrupt

R40 million in damages.

A Cape Town high court in 2021 ordered Obiang — the son of the iron-fisted President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo — to pay Janse van Rensburg around 40 million rand ($2.2 million) in damages.

The lawyer said his client had been hired by an Equatorial Guinea politician, Gabriel Angabi, “to set up an airline” in the oil-rich but impoverished country. 

After nearly two years of setting up the airline and “everything in place and aircrafts were ready to start flying”, the businessman was called by Angabi for what he assumed would be the airline launch, according to Eldson.

ALSO READ: Equatorial Guinea rights activist arrested as tries to receive award

“When he got there, Angabi said ‘we don’t want to do this anymore, we want our money back’,” said the lawyer.

Having spent all the money on the project, Janse van Rensburg failed to refund Angabi, who is allegedly related to the first family.

“He picked up the phone to vice president Obiang and within 10 minutes the rapid force intervention was there… they picked Daniel up and threw him into Black Beach prison”.

This video is no longer available.

In his memoir published in September, Janse Van Rensburg wrote “what was supposed to be a short business trip to Equatorial Guinea turned into a journey to the depths of hell.”

Obiang’s furniture from his two residences in Cape Town’s affluent suburbs have already been auctioned.

His lawyer Victor Nkhwashu refused to comment. 

– Playboy image –

Obiang’s father, 80-year-old father is the longest-serving head of state alive today, excluding monarchs.

He seized power in August 1979, toppling his uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, who was then executed by firing squad.

Firmly suppressing dissent and surviving a string of attempted coups, he has remained at the helm of the oil-rich central African state ever since.

ALSO READ: Equatorial Guinea president dissolves government after polls

He has long been considered to be grooming his son, usually called Teodorin, to be his successor.

However, the scion’s image has been stained by a playboy reputation and scandals abroad over assets suspected to have been acquired illegally.

France, Britain and the United States have ordered him to forfeit millions of dollars in assets, from mansions to luxury cars, while France also handed him a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 30 million euros (dollars).

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Dutch authorities have seized a $120 million luxury yacht from this African president’s son

A 76-meter (250 ft) luxury yacht said to belong to Teodorin Obiang Nguema, the vice-president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has been seized by Dutch authorities after it tried to leave Makkum, the Netherlands to head to Malabo.

Obiang Nguema, who is the son of president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest serving president , has been under investigation in Switzerland. The yacht, Ebony Shine , was seized  (in French) after a request by Swiss authorities. Last month, 11 of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars owned by Obiang Nguema were seized in Geneva , adding to the Obiang family’s international legal battles over alleged misappropriation of public funds. The vice president is believed to have a net worth of around $600 million.

Ebony Shine is one of two luxury yachts owned by the Equatorial Guinea. The other 90-meter yacht, called Ice , is docked at Tangier, Morocco, according to YachtHarbour.com. Ebony Shine was bought for $120 million. Both yachts are estimated to be worth around $250 million.

As well as yachts and cars, which include the Swedish-made Koenigegg One valued at $2.8 million, and a $2 million Bugatti Veyron, Obiang Nguema is also believed to own at least one private jet, including a Dassault 900.

He has denied ownership of the luxury items, claiming that they belong to his country’s government , according to Swiss publication L’Hebdo.

Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s third largest oil producer with a GDP of $15.53 billion in 2014, with a population of just over 1.2 million, according to last year’s census. That means it has one of Africa’s highest rates of GDP per capita. Yet, it’s ranked 138 out of 188 countries on the United Nations Human Development Index.

The Swiss investigation comes five years after an investigation was launched in France into Teodorin Obiang. He is accused of having procured ill-gotten wealth and is scheduled to stand trial in Paris in January 2017. In 2011, French police sequestered luxury cars from Obiang’s $180 million residence in Paris, as well as furniture and art, including paintings by Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir, worth $50 million.

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The North Africa Post

Super-yacht, properties of Equatorial Guinea VP seized by South African court

A super-yacht and two properties belonging to Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, were seized last week by South African court that suggested the properties may be auctioned to pay a South African businessman who sued Obiang for wrongful arrest and torture after an airline deal went wrong.

South African businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg says he welcomes the seizure of the yacht and properties but added that the case has been going on in South Africa since 2016 because with every ruling, the vice president files an appeal. Obiang, aka Theodorin, is also the son and presumed successor to Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang, who rules the country with an iron fist. Resnburg says in 2011 he was asked by the mayor of Equatorial Guinea’s capital city to set up a private airline for the central African nation. Rensburg explains that after two years of working on the project, the mayor called the deal off and said he wanted his money back.

“And that is when (the mayor) phoned Teodorin junior, he was at that time the minister of security and in charge of the jail. So, he got authorization from him to put me into Black Beach,” he said, referring to infamous jail in Equatorial Guinea where the South African businessman spent nearly two years. Rensburg has published a book about life in prison called Black Beach that he described as overcrowded, filthy and a breeding ground for diseases. Eventually, the lawyer of a fellow inmate got Rensburg out. When back in South Africa, he opened the case in 2016. Although Obiang’s lawyers are trying to block the auction of the properties and the super-yacht, Rensburg says he hopes this is the end. Equatorial Guinea’s government has not yet commented on the seizure of the vice president’s properties.

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CAPE TOWN FOR CAPETONIANS

Seized luxury yacht released amid threats of diplomatic consequences

The luxury yacht, thought to belong to  Equatorial Guinea Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang, has been released two weeks after the Western Cape High Court ordered that the vessel be seized.

Also read:  Watch: Superyacht spotted and unlikely to be Cape Town’s problem

The release of the Blue Shadow came amid a series of tweets by Obiang stating that the yacht was a military asset that to the Equatorial Guinea Defence Force threatening diplomatic consequences for South Africa if the yacht was not released.

According to IOL , the seizure was ordered two weeks ago after Western Cape businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg, was successful in lawsuit against Obiang for unlawful arrest and torture and imprisonment in the infamous Black Beach prison between 2013 and 2015, after a business deal went sour.

Van Rensberg claimed that his lawyers told him Obiang petitioned the Sheriff of the Court, seeking the immediate release of the yacht which would be auctioned for around R39.8m.

The subsequent release was confirmed by the Cape Town East Sheriff of the Court.

“24 hours after the announcement of our blunt package of measures against South Africa, the Defence Ministry boat which was held by the racists of Cape Town to scam $2 million (R36.5 million) has already been released,” Obiang Tweeted on Monday.

Meanwhile, after  the arrest of two South Africans in Equatorial Guinea two days after the court order was issued, the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) would not comment on whether the incidents were related.

Speaking to IOL, Dirco spokesperson Clayson Monyela however confirmed the arrests of Frederic Potgieter and Peter Huxham, from George and Langebaan respectively, adding that the two, who are employed in Equatorial Guinea, were facing charges for possession of drugs.

The pair were arrested in a hotel in March last year while they were preparing for their flight to South Africa. They are being held at Black Beach Prison, having appeared before a judge earlier this month.

“According to the company legal representative, the reason for being incarcerated at Black Beach is common in Equatorial Guinea and they consider it as preventive incarceration to avoid fleeing the country,” Monyela explained, adding that the authorities in Equatorial Guinea had 30 days to complete their investigations while the two recieved consular visits by South African diplomats.

Look: Yacht racers on around-the-world voyage arrive in Cape Town

Picture: Twitter/ @Gibdan1

Article written by Murray Swart

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Equatorial Guinea: Dictator's Son Orders $380 Million Luxury Yacht

Fresh from the "Is it us or them?" file, Lauren Frayer of AOL is reporting that Teodorin Obiang, the son of one of West Africa's longest-ruling dictators, has commissioned the building of a luxury superyacht for himself worth $380 million — almost three times more than his country spends annually on health and education for its impoverished people, an anti-corruption group said today.

Teodorin Obiang, the 41-year-old son of Equatorial Guinea's President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is the agriculture minister in his father's government but spends much of his time in California, with a $35 million mansion in Malibu, a fleet of luxury cars and a private jet. His government salary is $6,799 a month — making him certainly comfortable by U.S. standards but extremely wealthy compared with others in his home country. But even on that salary, it would still take him 4,600 years to pay for the luxury yacht he's ordered.

The yacht, which has yet to be built, would be the world's second-most-expensive boat, behind one that belongs to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. It's supposed to be 387 feet long and house a movie theater, restaurant, bar, swimming pool and $1.3 million security system with floor motion sensors and fingerprint door openers, the anti-corruption group Global Witness said today.

From investigation, it seems that most of Obiang's money comes from corruption, yet the U.S. continues to allow him to live an affluent lifestyle here in America. Did we mention that Obiang's father is the newly elected chairperson of the African Union? Add yet another African country to the list of corrupt governments and dictators bleeding their citizens dry while living ridiculously lavish lifestyles. Watch groups are all over these countries in light of the uprisings in recent months in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, mainly as a result of anger over corruption and youth joblessness.

We're not ones to cast stones — America has its own version of this phenomenon and recently witnessed such outrageousness with CEO and executive salaries during the bailout. We won't mention how the pastors of some mega-churches live relative to their church members. This culture of excess and greed must end. When you have people living in extreme poverty, how could you even think of purchasing a yacht that is almost three times more than your country spends annually on health and education for its impoverished people? That's right, because you go unchecked and don't care what it looks like. The question is, will there now be repercussions for the obvious corruption?

Read more at AOL News .

In other news: Libya: Clinton Gets Tough on Qaddafi.

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COLUMN | More hostages of fortune: Equatorial Guinea convicts SBM workers as Toxic Teddy’s revenge for another yacht arrest [Offshore Accounts]

When we covered the gross injustice of the case of Heroic Idun, where the 26-strong crew of a tanker were detained in Nigeria for many months on trumped up charges until the owner agreed to pay restitution of US$15 million to the Nigerian authorities, there was a also second state that also ran roughshod over the rights of the crew: Equatorial Guinea.

In fact, after the Norwegian owners paid an extortionate fine of US$2 million to the Equatorial Guinean authorities for the supposed crime of failing to fly the national flag on the tanker, we commented that, “if Mickey Mouse had a government, he would put the capital in Malabo.”

Now, events in Malabo have taken a dark turn. Again.

Treating people like pawns

Further evidence of the appalling abuses of power by the ruling family of Malabo was revealed when two South African offshore workers were convicted to 12 years in prison each, and fined US$7.8 million apiece. The imprisonment of South African citizens Peter Huxham and Frederic Potgeiter is a reminder that Equatorial Guinea treats people like human pawns, and that there is no rule of law in the country.

Just after jailing the two offshore workers, Equatorial Guinea also sentenced an opposition leader, Gabriel Nse Obiang Obono, to 29 years in prison , along with eight of his supporters. His now-illegal political party had once held the only opposition seat in the country’s hundred-member parliament. He was convicted of, amongst other things, “insulting the Equatorial Guinean security forces”.

Now that is something we would never dream of doing.

Implausible charges with obvious timing

The government authorities claimed that after signing off from a tour of duty on an offshore production facility, the two South Africans were trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country, back to South Africa. This makes no sense, and is highly implausible, especially as nobody in Equatorial Guinea was ever arrested or charged with providing the men with the drugs, and the court provided no evidence as to where the narcotics might have appeared from during their brief stay at the Anda China hotel. Francois Negrini, their representative, told the South African news site George Herald that the men were innocent, and that no evidence was presented by the prosecutor before they were convicted.

SBM has been providing legal representation to the men and has stated that they have exemplary work records. Bizarrely, the pair worked offshore on separate facilities more than 20 kilometres apart, FPSO Aseng and FPSO Serpentina , on different fields, operated by different oil companies. They say that they did not know one another before they were arrested together in the hotel.

Coca is not grown in Equatorial Guinea, cocaine is not produced there, and the country has some of the most repressive security apparatus in Africa. The offshore crew were held for over four months before being brought to court to be charged, and then summarily convicted by a bench of five judges at the end of June.

Those working in the country’s offshore sector, where Tidewater and P&O Maritime are major players, need to be aware that their human rights may not be respected.

“Corruption is endemic and affects all levels of government and the bureaucracy,” Security contractor Crisis24 states in its country profile for Equatorial Guinea. “Rule of law is weak, with widespread political interference in the judiciary and a culture of impunity among political, military, and economic elites.”

The South African government has protested that the men were denied access to consular services and were not charged until the end of June, four months after they were held. You can read the South African government statement here . Both required medical attention in the prison hospital before their trial.

Toxic Teddy the Veep denounces South African legal system

As usual, Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang (better known by his nickname “Teddy”, which is also his Instagram handle ) is at the centre of the scandal. Mr Obiang claimed that the conviction was “the first of the package of measures” he would be taking in response to the arrest of his 66-metre-long yacht Blue Shadow in South Africa, as per Energy Voice . The timing of the arrest of the two offshore workers came immediately after the detention of the yacht in their homeland.

Teddy claimed on Twitter that the yacht was a ship of the Equatorial Guinean Navy. If, indeed, this is correct, it may explain why the navy has performed so feebly against the Nigerian pirates who regularly intrude into the country’s waters, as luxury yachts are generally not provided with ballistics protection or weapons.

The vice president denounced those who had arrested the ship as “ racists ” on social media ( twice ), said he was a victim of “white, slave-owning lawyers from Cape Town” , and threatened to close the national air and maritime space to South African ships and vessels.

Lose one case, start two more

Blue Shadow was impounded in Cape Town in early February alongside the historic Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, after Daniel Janse van Rensburg, a South African businessman, had successfully sued Teddy for damages. Mr van Rensburg had been unlawfully detained in Equatorial Guinea for over 400 days in squalid and dangerous conditions after an aviation deal with the Vice President’s family members turned sour. Mr van Rensburg received an award of ZAR40 million (US$2.2 million) from the South African courts in 2021 but had struggled to enforce the damages.

The Sunday Times reported Mr van Rensburg had relinquished his claim on the yacht because he did not want to be the possible cause of the incarceration of the two South African workers in Equatorial Guinea. Daniel Janse van Rensburg’s spokesman said that documents found aboard Blue Shadow , together with statements from its crew, supported his claim that the yacht belongs to Teddy.

Blue Shadow was eventually released from arrest in Cape Town after “settlement was reached with the arresting creditors attorneys”, according to the super yacht industry press . The yacht sailed northwards on February 25.

In 2021, Mr Obiang also forfeited two Cape Town properties, a mansion in Bishopscourt, and a bungalow in the suburb of Clifton after they were also seized under an attachment order linked to the damages he owes Mr van Rensburg. Days before Blue Shadow was detained, Teddy had lost an appeal in the South African courts against the damages .

Mr Obiang responded to losing an appeal against damages in one unlawful imprisonment case to a South African by immediately locking up two more.

Daddy’s been in power for 24 years

Teddy is the son of the country’s long serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the oil-rich island state since 1979. He came to power by overthrowing his own uncle, who had conducted a reign of terror against the population after it gained independence from Spain in 1968. The elder Obiang has kept a tight grip on power whilst his family enjoy the benefits of the oil discoveries ExxonMobil brought to production in 1996 and the liquefied natural gas plant (LNG) that came onstream in 2007.

Mr Obiang senior was re-elected as president for a sixth term in November 2022 with around 95 per cent of the vote. Teddy is widely believed to be his heir, although Teddy’s half-brother Gabriel is also seen as a possible candidate. Gabriel is the current Minister of Finance.

Teddy’s lengthy record

Teddy has been convicted of money laundering and stealing US$150 million of state funds whilst living the high life in Europe ( here ). The US government has confiscated his villa in California, the Swiss government seized his collection of Bugatti supercars in Geneva, and the French have also prosecuted him.

The United States Department of Justice made the case succinctly:

“Through relentless embezzlement and extortion, Vice President 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 Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said. “After raking in millions in bribes and kickbacks, Nguema Obiang embarked on a corruption-fueled spending spree in the United States.”

When Teddy was sanctioned by the UK in 2021 for corruption, the British government highlighted how he had splurged his ill-gotten gains on a collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia, including a crystal-encrusted glove from the singer’s 1980s Bad tour, for which the Vice President had apparently paid US$275,000. In 2020 he promised to give the gloves to the national football team’s goalkeeper Jesus Owo if the team won the African Cup of Nations.

Equatorial Guinea was unfortunately eliminated in the quarter finals.

Isn’t the first time a yacht has been seized

The arrest of Blue Shadow is not the first time one of Mr Obiang’s yachts has been detained. In 2020, the 76-metre Ebony Shine , another superyacht allegedly owned by Teddy, left Cape Town after journalists from the country’s Sunday Times made enquiries about it.

That yacht has been arrested twice, including in the Netherlands in 2016 , as lawyers attempt to attach Obiang’s assets in relation to an embezzlement case and an Interpol arrest warrant validated by the International Court of Justice. The full story of the arrest and Equatorial Guinea’s efforts to recover the vessel is here . Again, the government claimed that the yacht was a military asset.

“A jacuzzi on the upper deck serves no military purpose,” asserted the Dutch public prosecutor, dryly.

But not content with two yachts, Teddy apparently also has a third, the 90-metre ICE , which he bought from the Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov in 2015. The yacht was originally built for the Chupa-Chup loll-pop and Mentos mint billionaire Augusto Perfetti .

Mr Perfetti seems to have been the only owner of the vessel who actually worked for money rather than acquiring it in dubious circumstances. You can marvel at the specification and photos here .

Would you buy a yacht from Mr Kerimov?

As an aside, Mr Kerimov and his son are now subject to sanctions in the EU and USA, and he himself has been investigated for, but never convicted of, various activities in France. The BBC has reported how he used a network of front companies to buy property in Europe, including a US$100 million property in London, after he reportedly made US$21 billion from investing in the Russian state gas company Gazprom, and in Sberbank, the biggest bank in Russia.

Mr Kerimov previously shot to fame in November 2006 when he was seriously injured after he crashed his Ferrari Enzo, which then burst into flames, on Nice’s Promenade des Anglais. He and his family own 46 per cent of the Russian gold mining company Polyus , and another yacht he allegedly owns, the 106-metre-long Amadea , was arrested in Fiji in 2022 upon suspicion of being purchased with the proceeds of crime. Amadea was also flagged in the Cayman Islands before it was seized by US authorities and sailed back to Honolulu under the American registry.

Birds of a feather flock together. And, seriously, does anyone in the superyacht business know about anti-money laundering best practice and Know Your Customer principles?

Answers on a post card to Grand Cayman, please.

So much corruption, so little enforcement in Malabo

Along with his yachts, Teddy also owns Asonga TV , the country’s only “privately owned” television channel.

Over and over, Equatorial Guinea has featured in many of the major corruption scandals of recent years. Last June, the mining company and trading house Glencore was convicted of paying kickbacks to win oil shipments in Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, South Sudan, and Cameroon. Glencore was fined US$1.5 billion for its malfeasance. Nobody in Malabo was ever prosecuted for receiving the bribes paid by Glencore.

SBM Offshore’s long-running corruption scandal began when whistle-blower Jonathan Taylor spotted some “irregular payments” to officials in Equatorial Guinea, leading to the exposition of a massive bribery scandal. This then resulted in the floating production company paying out fines of over US$830 million in multiple jurisdictions, as well as losing a defamation claim against the whistle-blower, who was detained in Croatia at the behest of the government of Monaco. Again, no one was prosecuted in Malabo for receiving the bribes paid by SBM.

Our favourite investigators at the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) reported in 2021 that Teddy’s half-brother, Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, who was then the country’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, had allegedly extorted bribes and siphoned off millions of dollars of state money from various construction projects carried out by Portuguese contractor Armando Cunha.

Later in 2021, OCCRP reported that the CEO of Equatorial Guinea’s state oil company GEPetrol was caught up in a court battle against an oil trading company in Europe, Arcadia Petroleum. A 2018 letter sent to Antonio Oburu Ondo by Arcadia’s lawyers alleged that companies owned or controlled by Mr Oburu received between US$64 and US$73 million in “stolen funds”.

In claims that sound very similar to the allegations that led to the conviction of Glencore, Arcadia said that sham intermediary companies were inserted into oil sales and these entities “made multi-million dollar payments to shell companies linked to Oburu.” Mr Oburu was in charge of GEPetrol crude oil sales throughout the period of the alleged embezzlement, OCCRP maintains, and its investigators went on to find a string of luxury properties around the world owned by the GEPetrol CEO and his wife. Cándida Okomo Nsue Mensa is a former singer who is also employed at the state oil company, as well as being a relative of the First Lady of Equatorial Guinea. Her father is a former Equatorial Guinean ambassador to the United States.

In February, Teddy’s father the president showed how seriously he treats allegation of embezzlement and corruption by (Wait for it…) promoting Mr Oburu to the cabinet post as Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons. He could “leverage his years of industry experience” by “building on the progress that has already been achieved in Equatorial Guinea,” in the words of NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

Conclusion: approach with caution, enforce with vigour

The imprisonment of Mr Huxham and Mr Potgeiter is a salutary warning that innocent people can get caught up in events completely beyond their control and relating to political tensions in which they have played no part. Unfortunately, governments like those of Russia, China, and Equatorial Guinea are quite willing to use foreigners working in their countries as human pawns to further political interests.

The detention of Heroic Idun eventually ended with the 26 crew being released within a year but only after the payment of US$15 million to the Nigerian authorities. Let us hope that Mr Huxham and Mr Potgeiter are also freed soon.

We commend SBM for standing behind them. However, we urge everyone in the offshore industry to remember that just because you do not take an interest in politics, it doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.

A country like Equatorial Guinea is remarkably corrupt; this should be no surprise to readers of this column. Unfortunately, protected by lots of paid professionals in the west, men like Toxic Teddy can often act with impunity against their enemies. Mr van Rensburg had his day in court, but it took years and years. Only strong legal systems and active corruption enforcement around the world can prevent the worst of the presidential family’s abuses. When the Brazilian authorities seized US$16 million in undeclared cash and jewellery from Teddy’s entourage in 2018, his friends’ defence was that they needed the money to spend in Singapore, which they were visiting as their next stop. Perhaps the Singaporean government might also want to be looking into any shady connections to Malabo?

Shame on the Cayman Islands for facilitating the ownership of those yachts.

Karma is a thing, right?

Background Reading

The population of Africa already surpasses that of India and China, but corruption means that the fast-growing population of the continent is often robbed of opportunities by the crooked and ruthless politicians who run the 54 countries there. See our coverage of the greedy ruling family of Congo-Brazzaville and the life of plunder of the former Angolan president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who died last year.

Nigeria’s Ikenga Online has a fascinating piece by Osmund Agbo on the connections between Calabar University and Equatorial Guinea.

Rolling Stone magazine has an excellent long feature on Teddy’s crimes and his Michael Jackson obsession.

Why not follow Teddy on Twitter and express your opinions directly to him by direct message? Or you can follow the EG opposition press @africaterror and @adiomacutonet ?

You can track the private jets used by Teddy here.

You can read the judgement in the Janse van Rensburg vs Teddy Obiang court filing in South Africa here  online . It makes grim reading regarding conditions in Equatorial Guinea’s detention facilities:

“The plaintiff testified that he was tightly handcuffed so much so that his wrists were cut. His hands were handcuffed to a rail in one of the rooms in a dungeon. He witnessed inmates being tortured in his presence in prison. He was later thrown in a small, crammed cell with about thirty inmates. The plaintiff was further tortured by other inmates in the cell. His arms ached from being handcuffed. He found it difficult to breathe in the room as it was hot and humid. He could not even swat a cloud of mosquitoes away, as his hands were cuffed behind his back. The floor of the cell was slippery and covered with human blood and vomit.”

Mr van Rensburg wrote a book about his imprisonment called Black Beach: 491 Days in One of Africa’s Most Brutal Prisons . You can buy a copy and find out more about the case on his website .

As ever, our thoughts go out to Mr Huxham and Mr Potgeiter and their families. Follow George Herald , their hometown newspaper, for more news on the case, or Bobby Jordan , the Times Live reporter who has done so much to shine light on the case.

Equatorial Guinea’s beef with South Africa goes back to 2004 and the disastrous failed coup attempt by British Army officer Simon Mann, which is covered in the excellent book The Wonga Coup by Adam Roberts.

Ebony Shine ’s most recent AIS records shows that Teddy’s yacht (sorry, I mean the EG naval vessel…) was last spotted in Italy. ICE ’s AIS pinged close to the picturesque Cinque Terre coast of Italy as we wrote this piece. Blue Shadow has recently cleared into Portugal as per Vesselfinder . Needless to say, all three yachts are flagged to the Cayman Islands, a country where money laundering appears to be a national sport. And why, oh why, are the assets owned by a convicted embezzler and money launderer able to freely call at European ports?

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Hieronymus Bosch

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