A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced Ruslan Obiang Nsue, one of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo’s sons, to six years in prison for the illegal sale of a plane belonging to the state-owned airline, Ceiba Intercontinental.
According to Supreme Court press director Hilario Mitogo, the 50-year-old, who once headed the airline, sold an ATR 72-500 aircraft to a Spanish company and pocketed the proceeds.
The ruling, however, provides Obiang Nsue an option to avoid serving time if he repays approximately $255,000 to the airline, along with additional fines and damages owed to the state.
He had been placed under house arrest in 2023 on the orders of his half-brother, Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue of Equatorial Guinea, who is also a son of the president. While the court convicted him of the plane sale, he was cleared of separate charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.
Obiang Nsue, who previously served as secretary of state for sports and youth of Equatorial Guinea now joins a growing list of ruling family members embroiled in corruption scandals in the oil-rich Central African nation, which has been under President Obiang’s leadership for 46 years.
