EQUATORIAL GUINEA OFFICIAL JAILED FOR EMBEZZLEMENT AFTER SEX TAPE SCANDAL

A senior Equatorial Guinean government official, Baltasar Ebang Engonga, has been sentenced to eight years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement, months after a viral sex tape scandal that shook the country.
The Bioko provincial tribunal convicted Engonga—popularly known as “Bello”—alongside five other officials for diverting state travel allowances for personal use. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $220,000 (about KSh 28.5 million).
Engonga, a former head of the National Financial Investigation Agency, first made international headlines in November 2024, when hundreds of explicit sex videos surfaced online showing him with several married women, some filmed inside his government office. The scandal sparked widespread outrage, ridicule, and satirical parodies across the region.
His sentencing on August 27, 2025, marks one of the highest-profile corruption cases in the oil-rich nation, where President Teodoro Obiang’s family and allies have long dominated politics.