Timeline of French graft probes into African elites

A Paris court will Friday issue its verdict in the graft case of Equatorial Guinea Vice President Teodorin Obiang — the first trial stemming from multiple investigations into assets linked to the leaders of three oil-rich African countries.

Equatorial Guinea, Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon all face investigations looking into claims of embezzlement and money-laundering.

Here are the key dates:

– Elites accused –

– December 2008: The French chapter of Transparency International (TI) and non-governmental group Sherpa file a suit against the three countries’ presidents accusing them of acquiring luxury homes in France with embezzled public money.

– November 2010: A French court authorises judges to start investigating the allegations.

– September 2011: French judicial officials raid Paris property belonging to the family of Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, hauling away Bugattis, Ferraris, Rolls-Royce Phantoms and other cars.

Nine seized cars are auctioned in July 2013 for 3.21 million euros.

– First warrant, charges –

– July 2012: A court issues an international arrest warrant for Obiang’s son Teodorin after he refuses to heed a summons. He is agriculture minister and deputy head of mission to UN cultural agency UNESCO, and tries to claim diplomatic immunity.

– July 2012: The Paris mansion of Teodorin Obiang is seized. The six-storey apartment is reportedly worth more than 100 million euros ($130 million dollars).

– March 2014: Teodorin Obiang is charged with corruption and embezzlement. He denies the charges.

– Investigation widens –

– August-September 2015: Judges seize several properties suspected of belonging to a nephew of Congo-Brazzaville President Denis Sassou Nguesso.

– December 2015: A French appeals court rules that Teodorin Obiang does not have immunity against prosecution.

– April 2016: French judges seize properties belonging to the family of Gabon’s president Omar Bongo, who died in 2009, including a villa in Nice and a Paris mansion.

Two Paris apartments in the name of Nguesso’s wife Antoinette are also confiscated.

– September 2016: French authorities announce that Teodorin Obiang, promoted to first vice president in June, will stand trial.

– January 2017: Teodorin Obiang trial begins in his absence and is postponed immediately. It resumes in June and ends in July with prosecutors demanding a three-year jail term and a 30-million-euro fine.

– March 2017: Nguesso’s nephew, Wilfrid, is placed under investigation for money laundering and misuse of public funds in France.

– June 2017: Investigators charge a daughter and son-in-law of Congo’s president with money laundering and misuse of public funds.

– July 2017: Another nephew of Nguesso and a former sister-in-law are charged. Five members of Nguesso’s entourage have now been charged.

– August 2017: French judges wrap up their investigation into the Bongo family and no charges were announced.

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