A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for embezzlement, months after leaked sex tapes involving him and the wives of other officials sparked global attention. Hilario Mitogo, press director of the Supreme Court, said the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds meant for official travel expenses.
He was also fined \$220,000.Engonga, who headed the national financial investigation agency, was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of misappropriating state resources in the oil-rich Central African country.
His notoriety grew in November when explicit videos—some allegedly filmed inside his finance ministry office—circulated widely online while he was in detention awaiting trial. The scandal fueled ridicule across the country, inspiring parodies, comic songs, dances, memes, and even a spoof virility drug dubbed Balthazariem. Despite the uproar, the court’s verdict was limited to financial crimes, imposing both the prison sentence and monetary penalty.
Source: https://www.tvcnews.tv/
