JOHANNESBURG (AP) – A U.S. deal forcing the son of Equatorial Guinea’s leader to turn over $31.3 million in ill-gotten gains misses an opportunity to expose the workings of corruption in the oil-rich nation, human rights activists said.
The Open Society Justice Initiative said putting Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue on trial would have brought “revelations that … could have been of inestimable value to expose the nature of the corruption system in Equatorial Guinea as well as the role of lawyers, bankers and other professionals who grease the wheels of abuse.” Obiang is also the country’s vice president.
Still, the New York-based organization welcomed the first U.S. legal action of its kind to target the family of a sitting head of state, according to a statement late Friday by Ken Hurwitz, head of the organization’s anti-corruption work.
In the first case under the Department of Justice’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, Obiang must sell a Malibu mansion, a Ferrari and Michael Jackson memorabilia to raise $20 million to go to a charity working for the people of his country and $10.3 million to the U.S. also to be used to benefit the people of the West African coastal nation.
He also must pay $1 million to cover the value of Michael Jackson memorabilia already removed from the U.S., including a “Thriller” jacket and crystal-covered glove, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell said Friday.