Baltasar Ebang, the suspended Director-General of Equatorial Guinea’s National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), has been sentenced to eight years in prison for fraud.
The sentence was handed down following charges of embezzlement and sex scandal involving him that drew global attention over leaked sex tapes involving the wives of other officials.
The scandal gave rise to parodies and online jokes, with internet users producing songs, dances, and even memes about a fictitious virility drug mockingly called “Balthazariem”.
According to Hilario Mitogo, press director at the Supreme Court, the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of misappropriating funds by claiming professional travel expenses and diverting them for personal use. Mitogo relayed the details of the judgment to reporters via WhatsApp, Reports Tribune Newspaper.
Mitogo confirmed that the court sentenced Engonga to eight years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of $220,000, having been previously headed the national financial investigation agency, according to reports.
The convict, faced trial alongside five other high-ranking officials accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in the oil-producing Central African nation.
Known by the nickname “Bello,” Engonga first made international headlines in November after explicit videos surfaced online.
Some of the recordings, reportedly filmed in his office at the finance ministry, circulated widely on social media, while he was in custody awaiting trial on corruption charges.
