Hopefully Equatorial Guinea Second Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang didn’t join any neighborhood clubs, since as of Friday the Federal Justice Department has forced Obiang to sell his house in Malibu’s Serra Retreat, citing corruption charges.
Assets seized by the Feds total $34 million, including the ocean-view home overlooking the Malibu Pier, a Ferrari and part of his expansive collection of Michael Jackson memorabilia.
The settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday authorizes the U.S. government to seize all of Obiang’s property currently in the U.S. However, since the case was first filed in 2011, Obiang has had the opportunity to save some of his assets, including a Gulfstream jet, a luxury boat, and cars from Rolls Royce and Bugatti, by moving them off US soil.
“What the settlement represents is a successful seizure of all the property that the government was likely to be able to get its hands on,” said Robert Williams, a political science professor at Pepperdine and an expert in Obiang’s case.
“The settlement also says, if the jet comes back to the United States, it’s subject to seizure,” Williams added.
According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Equatorial Guinea currently has an unemployment rate of over 22 percent. Its president, Obiang’s father, seized power in a military coup in 1979, and has grown wealthy while the rest of the nation struggles. Equatorial Guinea’s GDP per capita was $25,700 in 2013, compared to $52,800 per capita in the United States.
Williams described that in addition to being a government official, Obiang was a successful businessman, since his family has a monopoly over the economy.
“All the businesses in Equatorial Guinea are owned by the family,” Williams said.
“The [U.S.] government had testimony from foreign corporations that they were asked to pay what amounted to bribes as a way to do business with Teodoro,” Williams explained.
“Through relentless embezzlement and extortion, Vice President Nguema Obiang shamelessly looted his government and shook down businesses in his country to support his lavish lifestyle, while many of his fellow citizens lived in extreme poverty,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Leslie Caldwell said in a statement. “After raking in millions in bribes and kickbacks, Nguema Obiang embarked on a corruption-fueled spending spree in the United States.”
The spending spree included lavish purchases of Michael Jackson memorabilia, such as six life-sized Jackson statues and a “white, crystal-encrusted glove from the late singer’s ‘Bad’ tour in the late 1980s,” estimated at $275,000 which, according to the Los Angeles Times, he was able to move out of the country before the settlement with the Department of Justice.
The 15,000-square-foot Serra Retreat mansion which, according to the LA Times boasts a three-hole golf course, a swimming pool, ponds and a tennis court, will be put up for sale within 30 days, with proceeds going to various causes.
“It’s not entirely clear how much time he spent in Malibu, or elsewhere in the U.S., but all the indications are he spent a whole lot less time here since the case was filed in 2011,” Williams said. The mansion is valued at around $30 million.
“[Over 10] million [dollars] of the proceeds would be forfeited to the Justice Department, partly for the government’s investigation costs and partly to be used for the benefit of the people of Equatorial Guinea,” wrote the Wall Street Journal.
The additional money would be put toward an organization chosen by a three-person panel, likely to benefit the people of Equatorial Guinea.