Switzerland Authorities seize expensive cars belonging to Guinea's vice president.

Corruption appears to have eaten too deep into the minds of African politicians as a whole. With the recent developments, it shows that it’s not just Nigerian politicians that ‘set their families up for life’ while they are in office. Born in 1969, the 47 year old who became the vice president of Equatorial Guinea under his father the president in 2012, was said to have spent millions of dollars on rare and expensive cars. Teodorin’s father Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been president of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, added seven more years to his 36-year leadership of the country, making him the longest serving African president.

According to reports, Teodorin’s cars were seized by the Swiss authorities, adding to legal problems the Nguema family are currently facing due to alleged misuse of public funds. Among the eleven cars seized, there was a Swedish-made Koenigsegg One, valued at $2.8 million and said to be one of only seven ever produced. There was also a $2 million Bugatti Veyron, which is one of the most expensive cars in the world, and another one, a Ferrari, were also seized. The cars were moved to a freight area, pending the duration of the investigation. The authorities were said to have responded to a tip-off that the cars were on their way to being shipped abroad. 

This Swiss investigation is coming just 5 years after France had carried out a similar investigation on the vice president. The french authorities discovered and seized luxury cars from Obiang’s $180 million residence in Paris, as well as furniture and art, including painting by Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir, worth $50 million, in 2011. The US justice department had also seized some of his properties in 2014, including his $30 million mansion in Malibu, a Gulfstream jet and 28 collector’s cars. Invoking diplomatic immunity, Teodorin was able to evade arrest in France, even though he is scheduled to stand court trial in January 2017. Even though Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s third largest oil producer, the country with a population of about 1.2 million, has about 76.8% of them living below poverty lines.