By Joy Yesufu
A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga, popularly known as “Bello,” to eight years in prison for embezzlement.
The Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga, a former head of the national financial investigation agency, guilty of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in professional travel allowances for personal use, Supreme Court press director Hilario Mitogo said in a statement to reporters.
Engonga, who is married, was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of misappropriating state funds in the oil-rich Central African nation. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $220,000.
The disgraced official became internationally notorious last November after leaked sex tapes,bl some filmed inside his finance ministry office, circulated on social media while he was already in detention.
The scandal sparked a wave of online parodies, including satirical songs and references to a spoof virility drug dubbed “Balthazariem.”
The case has renewed public debate over corruption and accountability in Equatorial Guinea, where the ruling elite has long faced criticism for mismanagement of the country’s vast oil wealth.
