Equatorial Guinea: President’s Son On Trial For Illegally Selling National Aircraft To Spanish Company

A son of Equatorial Guinea’s president by the name Ruslan Obiang Nsue was tried on Monday in a court in Malabo for illegally selling an airplane that belonged to the national airline, a crime he has admitted to.

Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 18 years in prison for the president’s son and a fine of 500 million CFA Francs ($847,000).

Nsue, 49, was charged with “abuse of power, abuse of office, abuse of public interest assets and embezzlement of public funds.”

The trial was suspended with no date set for judgment.

In November 2022, authorities of Equatorial Guinea launched investigations after discovering the disappearance of an aircraft belonging to the national airline, Ceiba Intercontinental. The plane, an ATR 72-500, had been undergoing routine maintenance in Spain since 2018. Still, investigations revealed that the aircraft had been sold to a Spanish aircraft maintenance company, Binter Technic Company.

I acknowledge a contract for the sale of the plane for 250,000 euros ($277,900), but I only received 125,000, which I put into my bank account in Spain, the president’s son told the court.

Nsue was formerly the deputy general manager of Ceiba International before he was dismissed. He is also a former Secretary of State for Sports and Youth.

Arrested in 2023, Nsue was placed under house arrest on the orders of his half-brother, Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is Equatorial Guinea’s vice president.

The president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, 82, has been ruling Equatorial Guinea for 45 years since his coup against his uncle in 1979. He is the longing serving ruler alive in the world, excluding Monarchs.

In July 2021, the president’s eldest son, Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, was sentenced by a French court to a three-year suspended prison term and fined 30 million euros for embezzling public funds. The sale of his assets in France generated 6 million euros.

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