Equatorial Guinea: Balthazar Ebang Engonga sentenced to eight years in prison
The Bioko provincial court has sentenced the former director of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), Balthazar Ebang Engonga, to eight years in prison and a fine of 125.4 million CFA francs (about 190,000 euros).
It is a crushing legal blow for someone who, already weakened by a sex scandal in late 2024, now sees his career collapse for good. According to Hilario Mitogo, press director general at the Supreme Court of Justice in Malabo, the defendant, Balthazar Ebang Engonga, took part in a vast corruption scheme involving the transfer of millions of CFA francs to offshore accounts.
The prosecution had sought up to 18 years in prison for Balthazar Ebang Engonga and several of his co-defendants, including women also accused of complicity. In the end, the court imposed a lighter sentence but paired it with a particularly deterrent financial penalty.
A trial under tight security
The case captured national and international attention, both for its financial dimension and its salacious context. In court, the judges emphasized that the embezzled amounts, ranging from 5 to 125 million CFA francs (7,600 to 190,000 euros), had been justified as supposed mission and travel expenses already covered by the state.
The trial also revived memories of the late-2024 sex scandal, during which hundreds of intimate videos featuring the former ANIF director were circulated.
Those images depicted him with women presented as the wives of senior officials and figures close to power, bringing the state apparatus into disrepute.