The 66.75-metre superyacht Blue Shadow owned by Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue has reportedly been seized by South African officals in Cape Town. (Credit: superyachttimes.com)
By Gary Raynaldo – DIPLOMATIC TIMES
South African officials have seized the 66.75-metre super yacht Blue Shadow owned by Equatorial Guinea’s playboy Vice-President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue in Cape Town amid an ongoing legal dispute. The vessel was seized on February 7 and is reportedly set to be auctioned to recover compensatory funds owed by VP Obiang. A South African court ordered the seizures after local businessman Daniel Janse van Rensburg won a lawsuit against the Vice-President for unlawful arrest and torture, according to media reports. In addition two luxury homes owned by the Equatorial Guinea VP were seized. In 2013, van Rensburg was jailed after a business deal between him and Obiang’s uncle reportedly fell apart. Rensburg alleges he was unlawfully detained in Equatorial Guinea nearly two years after the business deal soured. The businessman has demanded approximately $2.2 million (€2 million) in compensation. The court ordered that Obiang pay damages. The yacht is believed to be worth R300m.
Obiang accused of looting $115 million from his impoverished country
Source: BBC.COM/ Jerome Leroy / Getty Images AFP / Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue
Mangue’s father, Teodoro Obiang, has been ruling Equatorial Guinea since 1979. In February 2012, French authorities seized the Paris Avenue Foch mansion of Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President as part of a money-laundering probe. Obiang has been accused of looting $115 million from his impoverished country to spend on luxury property in Paris, a sumptuous villa in Malibu California, a Dassault 900 lear jet, high-end cars, and even Michael Jackson’s crystal glove. In June 2016, Equatorial Guinea petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague to order France halt its criminal case against Obiang on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. In 2016, Swiss authorities confiscated 25 of his supercars, which were later auctioned off for about $27 million.
Playboy: Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (above), the son of Equatorial Guinea president, must sell his Malibu mansion, a Ferrari and his Michael Jackson memorabilia under a settlement with the U.S Government (Credit; Dailymail.com)
Obiang Maintains He Earned his Money Legally in his country of Equatorial Guinea
In July 2021, France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation, upheld two lower courts’ convictions of Obiang for embezzling and laundering public funds. The decision ended over a decade of litigation and official gives France’s control over some €150 million (US$177 million) in stolen assets, which must be returned to Equatorial Guinea for the benefit of those deprived of the resources. France joins the United States and Switzerland in holding a combined $237 million in recovered assets that must be returned to benefit the Equatorial Guinean public.
Obiang contends that he has not committed any criminal offences on French soil to justify his indictment and trial. Prosecutors alleged Obiang amassed a personal fortune of around $115 million from 2004 to 2011. Obiang claims his vast wealth is derived from legitimate business ventures in Equatorial Guinea.
