By Online Team

26^th Nov 2012:

A Paris appeals court has approved the seizure of luxury cars belonging to Equatorial Guinea leader Teodoro Obiang Nguema’s family, including such makes as Ferrari and Bugatti, a judicial source said Friday.

The cars were seized along with a Paris mansion reportedly worth more than 100 million Euros ($130 million) and millions of Euros’ worth of other Obiang family possessions as part of an investigation by two judges into the French properties of three long time African rulers.

The Obiang family appealed the seizure of its luxury cars after authorities confiscated them in September last year as part of the probe.

However, in a ruling handed down on Monday last week, the appeals court cited “sufficient indications to believe that all the vehicles were acquired through the misappropriation of funds,” the French newspaper Le Monde reported.

In February, authorities also seized the family’s six-storey mansion on the chic Avenue Foch in Paris, carting away vanloads of possessions including paintings by famous artists, a clock worth an estimated three million Euros and wines worth thousands of Euros a bottle.

The investigation was launched in December 2010 to determine whether Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, late Gabonese president Omar Bongo Ondimba, and the Obiang family used corrupt means to acquire their expensive properties in France.

French authorities have also issued an arrest warrant for Teodorin Obiang, the leader’s son and vice president.  Obiang’s office protested that the warrant “seriously infringed” on international law.  END: Login to www.ugandacorrespondent.com every Monday to read our top stories mid-week for our updates

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