A nephew of Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who was at the centre of a sex tape scandal last year, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement.
Baltasar Ebang Engonga, the former head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, diverted money for personal use, a court ruled.
Nicknamed “Bello” because of his good looks, the married Engonga gained notoriety last year, when he appeared in leaked videos having sex with different women – many of them wives and relatives of people close to the centre of power.
The leak occurred while he was in detention, accused of depositing a huge sum of embezzled money into secret accounts in the Cayman Islands.
He was found guilty along with five other officials who allegedly claimed the money as an allowance for travel – the amounts ranged from $9,000 (£6,600) to $220,000.
Engonga’s arrest last October and public humiliation was seen as an attempt to destroy any hope he had of becoming the next president of the oil-rich central African state.
His uncle is the world’s longest-serving president having been in power since 1979, and has appointed his son, Teodoro Obiang Mangue, as his vice-president.
Engonga used to investigate crimes such as money laundering, but found himself at the infamous Black Beach prison in the capital, Malabo, after being accused of corruption.
His phones and computers were seized and a few days later the intimate videos started appearing online in their dozens.
The authenticity of the videos was never verified, but as the computer equipment was in the hands of the security forces, suspicion fell on someone there leaking it, perhaps to trash Engonga’s reputation.
As well as imposing a jail sentence, the tribunal fined Engonga $220,000, supreme court press director Hilario Mitogo was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying in a WhatsApp message to journalists.
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Celebrity real estate agent Mauricio Umansky will not face a civil trial for allegedly violating his duties as a broker in the sale of a prominent Malibu hilltop mansion that he flipped for nearly $70 million.
Real estate investor Sam Hakim and his agent dropped their consolidated Superior Court lawsuits this month against Umansky, his development partner Mauricio Oberfeld and other defendants. The legal action accused the two men of conspiring to buy the mansion in 2016 for $32.5 million — despite an alleged higher offer from Hakim — so they could fix it up and sell it for a big profit.
Umansky and his luxury Beverly Hills real estate firm, The Agency, not only represented the buyer and seller in the transaction, but Umansky had a stake in the buyer’s limited liability company fronted by Oberfeld. The 2019 lawsuit sought at least $35 million in damages, or roughly the profit made flipping the property in 2017 to the heir of a Hong Kong drink manufacturer.
Jennifer Shakouri and Alan Hearty, attorneys for Hakim, a Beverly Hills resident who runs a family real estate investment firm, said in a statement that their client, who is Jewish, decided to “put this matter behind him” amid the war in Gaza.
“In light of current global events, including the shocking attack on the state of Israel on October 7, Mr. Hakim decided his time and energy would be better served on matters other than this litigation. This led him to resolve this matter,” said the statement, which noted that as part of the settlement Umansky agreed to give money to a “pro-Israel charitable organization.”
“Regarding the issue of wrongdoing by Mr. Umansky, the court records speak for themselves,” the statement concluded.
In an interview, Umansky, who is also Jewish, said the donation by himself and his brokerage was something he would have gladly done anyway. He declined to disclose the value of the donation. He said the decision by Hakim and his agent to drop the litigation was an indication of its lack of merit.
“At the end of the day, I believe that from the beginning I did not do anything wrong,” he said.
Hakim’s decision followed the production of text messages that had long been sought by the defendants in discovery. Texts between Hakim and his broker, Aitan Segal, suggested that Hakim was first made aware of the partnership that Umansky and Oberfeld had formed to buy and flip the property through a 2017 article — not one he read in 2018 as he had claimed.
Real estate investor Sam Hakim poses in front of the Malibu mansion whose $70-million sale prompted his lawsuit against Mauricio Umansky.
(Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
The issue of when he first knew of Umansky’s involvement is relevant to how long he had to file the case before the statute of limitations expired. Attorneys for the defendants sought to have the case terminated over the delayed production of the texts; Judge Mark Epstein rejected that bid in an October decision while leaving open the possibility of monetary sanctions.
Jeremiah Reynolds, an attorney for Oberfeld and another defendant, Matt Dugally, who also was a member of the buyer’s group and owns a luxury home builder with Oberfeld, said in a statement that neither client paid Hakim “to settle this frivolous case against them.”
“Sam Hakim voluntarily dropped his lawsuit under threat of court ordered sanctions for his failure to turn over text messages that demonstrated his case never should have been filed,” the statement said.
The Hakim lawsuit was not the first filed against Umansky over the 16.5-acre Malibu compound, a conspicuous piece of real estate featuring a 15,000-square-foot mansion overlooking the city’s pier. The compound was featured on “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” a show featuring Umansky’s spouse Kyle Richards, when the broker — the star of his own Netflix reality show — was readying it for resale.
The estate was acquired in 2006 by Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the playboy son of the president of Equatorial Guinea. He was forced to sell the home in 2014 after the U.S. government filed an asset forfeiture case that accused him of buying the mansion, a jet and other luxury items with laundered funds generated by corrupt business dealings in his native country.
Umansky was hired by Nguema to conduct the sale, with the first $10.3 million in proceeds going to the U.S. government and the remainder for the benefit of the people of Equatorial Guinea. After it was reported in the media that Umansky was a member of the group that flipped the home in 2017 for $69.9 million, Nguema sued Umansky, accusing him of self-dealing that lowered the initial sale price.
Umansky reached a settlement with Nguema, who is no longer in the U.S., that provided $6.35 million to a healthcare nonprofit working in Equatorial Guinea, as part of the asset forfeiture case that wrapped up in 2021.
The Agency’s insurance company also sued after the brokerage filed an insurance claim to help fund the Nguema settlement. The insurer accused Umansky of a conflict of interest in the deals and sought to rescind the brokerage’s policy. An undisclosed settlement was reached.
Umansky said that he was unable to comment on those cases and settlements due to nondisclosure agreements.
At the same time, Hakim’s case had been wending its way through Santa Monica Superior Court, with voluminous filings by both sides. The original complaint accused Umansky, Oberfeld and other defendants of eight causes of action, including fraud, breaches of duty and negligent misrepresentation.
Not every allegation applied to every defendant and over the years Epstein struck several, including the fraud allegation. A trial was set for next year on the remaining causes of action — including an allegation Umansky breached his duty to be an honest and fair broker — assuming the case survived a motion for summary judgment and wasn’t dismissed by Epstein.
A core issue was Hakim’s allegation that he and Segal verbally offered at least $40 million for the property, but that Umansky never passed the offer on to his client Nguema. They also claimed Umansky told them not to bother to put the offer in writing because of the unusual nature of the transaction, since Nguema would not personally benefit from a higher price.
Umansky has denied Hakim made such an offer or that he told him to not put it in writing — something he said a sophisticated investor would always do. “It’s a ‘he said, she said.’ I know what happened. And I know that there was no verbal offer made. Period. End the story,” Umansky said.
Hakim’s attorneys have disputed that there was no evidence. Last year, they submitted into the court file the transcription of a voicemail left for Umansky by Segal in May 2015. During it, the agent notes that his client is ready with an all-cash offer in the “40 range.”
Umansky dismissed the voicemail, saying it was left with him prior to Segal visiting the property. “I am well aware of that. We do that all the time, ‘Hey, I’ve got a client looking up to $60 million. What can I have? What can you show?’ That’s not evidence of any sort of offer.”
Attorneys for Umansky also have questioned whether Hakim had the financial wherewithal to make an all-cash offer that would close the deal fast, though Umansky’s and Oberfeld’s limited liability company itself needed to bring in other investors.
Perhaps the most central issue of the case revolved around when Umansky and Oberfeld reached their own agreement to buy the property. Umansky informed Nguema and the Department of Justice in June 2016 — weeks before the sale closed and long after negotiations with Hakim had ceased — that he had only recently been invited to participate in the buyers’ group.
But Epstein cast doubt on that in a ruling this year, stating there were documents indicating a “concrete February 2016 plan for a joint partnership that had long been in the works.”
“The court notes that the evidence does seem pretty clear that Umansky’s suggestion that the discussions only started a little bit before May 2016 was simply false and he knew it when he said it,” the judge wrote.
Umansky said the “judge was completely wrong in those statements” — and almost seemed to rue the case was dropped.
“Unfortunately, or fortunately, it’s not going to be heard at trial,” he said.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is sending personnel to Africa to help stop outbreaks of Marburg virus disease and is urging travelers to certain countries to take precautions. The CDC is also taking steps to keep infections from spreading to the United States.
Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania are facing their first known outbreaks of Marburg virus, a viral fever with uncontrolled bleeding that’s a close cousin to Ebola. This week, the CDC urged travelers to both countries to avoid contact with sick people and to watch for symptoms for three weeks after leaving the area. Travelers to Equatorial Guinea should take enhanced precautions and avoid nonessential travel to the provinces where the outbreak is ongoing, the agency said.
In the United States, the agency will post notices in international airports where most travelers arrive, warning them to watch for symptoms of the virus for 21 days and to seek care immediately if they become ill. They will also get a text reminder to watch for symptoms.
The CDC is standing up a “center-led” emergency response; it’s not as all-encompassing as when the CDC stands up its Emergency Operations Center, such as for Covid-19 and mpox. But it will refocus the efforts and attention of the staff of its National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases to respond to the outbreaks, which are in two countries on opposite sides of Africa, indicating that the deadly hemorrhagic fever is spreading.
Equatorial Guinea, on the coast in West Africa, declared an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in mid-February with cases spread across multiple provinces. As of March 22, Equatorial Guinea had 13 confirmed cases, including nine people who have died and one who has recovered, according to the World Health Organization. Nine CDC staffers are on the ground there. They have established a field laboratory and are assisting with testing, case identification and contact tracing.
Tanzania, on the coast in East Africa, declared an outbreak of Marburg virus disease on March 21, with cases reported in two villages in the Kagera region, according to the CDC. As of March 22, Tanzania has had eight confirmed cases, including five deaths. The CDC has a permanent office in Tanzania that is assisting with the outbreak. It is sending additional staff to support those efforts.
Marburg virus is a rare and deadly virus that causes fever, chills, muscle pain, rash, sore throat, diarrhea, weakness or unexplained bleeding or bruising. It is spread through contact with body fluids and contaminated surfaces. People can also catch it from infected animals. It is fatal in about half of cases who get it. Other countries in Africa have had to quell outbreaks before.
In its early stages, the infection is difficult to distinguish from other illnesses, so a history of travel to either of those countries will be essential to helping clinicians spot it.
Three of the eight confirmed cases are receiving treatment even as 161 contacts are being monitored, according to the WHO.
Tanzania has confirmed eight cases of Marburg, a high-death viral hemorrhagic fever with symptoms broadly similar to those of Ebola, in its first-ever outbreak, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO said in a late Tuesday statement that the confirmation by Tanzania’s national public laboratory followed the death of five people in the northwest Kagera region who developed symptoms, which include fever, vomiting, bleeding and renal failure.
Among the dead was a health worker, WHO said. The three who survived were getting treatment, with 161 contacts being monitored.
“The efforts by Tanzania’s health authorities to establish the cause of the disease is a clear indication of the determination to effectively respond to the outbreak,” said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa.
“We are working with the government to rapidly scale up control measures to halt the spread of the virus.”
With a death rate of as high as 88 percent, Marburg is from the same virus family responsible for Ebola and is transmitted to people from fruit bats. It then spreads through contact with bodily fluids of infected people.
The symptoms include high fever, severe headache and malaise which typically develop within seven days of infection, according to the WHO.
Tanzania’s outbreak comes a month after Equatorial Guinea confirmed its first-ever outbreak of Marburg virus disease too. The WHO intensified surveillance in the Central African nation, deploying health emergency experts in epidemiology, case management, infection prevention, laboratory and risk communication to boost the country’s response.
Authorities have stepped up arrests of dissidents ahead of next month’s elections.
Equatorial Guinea has held a human rights campaigner in detention for 18 days after he assisted opposition activists when their party headquarters were besieged by police, his lawyer and wife told AFP on Thursday.
The justice ministry refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.
Anacleto Micha Nlang, co-founder of the banned rights group “Guinea is also ours” was arrested on September 25 after returning from the offices of the Citizens for Innovation (CI) party. He had delivered food to families – including women and children – under siege there, his wife Montserrat Mikue and lawyer Evaristo Nguema Elo confirmed to AFP.
The small, Spanish-speaking central African country is one of the most closed and authoritarian in the world. It is led by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the world’s longest-serving incumbent president, who has been in power since 1979.
In 2021, Reporters Without Borders ranked Equatorial Guinea at 164 among 180 countries in its press freedom index.
With presidential, legislative and municipal elections just over a month away, authorities have stepped up arrests in recent weeks.
State media has justified the crackdown as a bid to counter a “foiled plot” by the opposition to carry out attacks on embassies, petrol stations and the homes of ministers.
On September 30, after a siege lasting more than a week, security forces stormed the home of CI leader Gabriel Nse Obiang Obono, whose house had also served as an office for the banned party since 2018.
The assault left five dead – four activists and a policeman, according to authorities.
Dozens were injured and more than 150 people were arrested from among the 200 who had camped out there, including Obono.
The authorities said they stormed the building to detain the CI chief who refused to surrender to a court warrant as part of the investigation into the alleged plot.
Nlang was detained at Malabo’s central police station before being transferred on October 11 to Black Beach prison, also in the capital, his lawyer and the Somos+ Sociedad Civil rights group told AFP.
“He has been transferred to the world’s worst prison, Black Beach,” the group said in a statement, alleging a “policy of terror.”
