Baltasar Ebang Engonga Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison – Court Ruling Explained
Baltasar Ebang Engonga Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison – Court Ruling Explained
Baltasar Ebang Engonga – Baltasar Ebang Engonga prison sentence – Baltasar Ebang Engonga 8 years – Bello, whose real name is Baltasar Ebang Engonga, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for embezzlement. Last November the senior official sparked an international storm when s3x tapes surfaced on social media, rattling the Obiang clan.
“The provincial court of Bioko has sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison and a fine of CFA125.4m (about $221,958),” said Hilario Mitogo, head of press at the Supreme Court in Malabo, in a WhatsApp exchange with reporters.
The former head of the National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF) was tried alongside five other senior officials for diverting public funds. According to the court, amounts ranging from CFA5m to CFA125m were used for personal expenses, disguised as travel and mission costs already covered by the state.
Ebang Engonga made headlines last November when s3x tapes emerged online while he was being held on remand in Malabo’s notorious Black Beach prison.
An aphrodisiac called ‘Balthazariem’
The videos – filmed at unknown dates in various locations, including his office at the finance ministry – featured him with multiple partners, among them the wives of local dignitaries. They dominated online chatter.
Their viral spread prompted the authorities to throttle internet access in a bid to stem downloads. The “Baltasar effect”, however, spread far beyond Equatorial Guinea. Songs, dances and photomontages proliferated, some awarding him a spoof “Ballon d’Or 2024”, others advertising a supposed aphrodisiac called “Balthazariem”.
Nicknamed “Bello” for his good looks, the married father in his fifties is the son of Baltasar Engonga Edjo’o, current president of the Commission of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC).
