A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced one of the sons of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to six years in prison for illegally selling an ATR72-500 belonging to national carrier CEIBA Intercontinental (C2, Malabo), the news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) reported.
Ruslan Obiang Nsue, a former director of the national carrier, was convicted of selling ATR72-500 3C-LLI (msn 790) to Binter Canarias (NT, Gran Canaria) in 2020 and pocketing the proceeds. The ruling allows him to avoid prison if he repays about USD255,000 plus damages and fines, the Supreme Court's media spokesman Hilario Mitogo informed journalists in a WhatsApp message.
Obiang Nsue, who has also served as secretary of state for sports and youth, was acquitted of embezzlement and abuse of office.
He was placed under house arrest in 2023 on the order of his half-brother, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who had initiated the investigation into the aircraft sale in 2022.
Prosecutors initially sought an 18-year prison sentence and a fine of about USD850,000.
Obiang Nsue was tried in Malabo’s Court of First Instance on charges of abuse of power, misappropriation of public resources, and embezzlement.
He admitted authorising the sale of the aircraft but claimed the proceeds were used to settle airline debts. According to Obiang Nsue, the aircraft was sent to Binter in May 2016 for maintenance, but was never serviced due to the high cost. In 2020, he authorised its dismantling for EUR250,000 to settle debts with Spanish airport operator AENA, Binter, and other creditors, some of which had already taken legal action. He claimed that after being alerted about a possible seizure of the company's accounts, he transferred the funds to his personal account at Ibercaja Banco in Spain.
Nguema Obiang Mangue was separately convicted in France in 2021 of embezzling public funds.
ch-aviation has contacted Binter Canarias for comment.
