# Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo

## Identity and office

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been president of Equatorial Guinea since 3 August 1979. He remains commander-in-chief. He does not sit in Paris. He does preside over the oil state in which his son served as vice-president.

Do not open with 1979. The court file is official. On 10 October 2014 the [US Department of Justice](/organizations/us-department-of-justice) announced a Kleptocracy Asset Recovery settlement with Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, then second vice-president: he would relinquish a $30 million Malibu mansion, a Ferrari, and Michael Jackson memorabilia purchased with corruption proceeds; $20 million to a charity for Equatoguineans and $10.3 million forfeited to the United States for their benefit ([DOJ OPA](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/second-vice-president-equatorial-guinea-agrees-relinquish-more-30-million-assets-purchased)). DOJ alleged more than $300 million in assets on a salary under $100,000. That allegation is not copied as a size.

On 27 October 2017 the Paris tribunal correctionnel convicted Teodorín in absentia of laundering the proceeds of public-fund diversion and related offences, with confiscation of seized French property ([Sherpa chronology](https://www.asso-sherpa.org/procedures-dates-cles-bma-guinee-equatoriale)). On 10 February 2020 the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the conviction and confiscation and made a €30 million fine payable. On 28 July 2021 the Cour de cassation rejected his pourvoi. Teodorín is unresolved. This run does not mint a page for him.

The ballot file is official. On 26 November 2022 the National Electoral Board proclaimed 405,910 votes ([government press](https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticias/s_e_obiang_nguema_mbasogo_proclamado_presidente_electo_de_guinea_ecuatorial); [RFI, 27 November 2022](https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20221127-obiang-confirmed-for-sixth-term-as-president-of-equatorial-guinea)). Government press stated 94.9 percent, turnout 98 percent. The United States recorded serious doubts. This page does not invent a unique fraud integer.

## Documented benefits

The offsets that a commissioned-positive portrait would lead with are real only where dated, and they are not this assignment’s through-line. LNG trains and a 1979 end to Macías are neighbouring files. They are not a rebate of 10 October 2014 or 27 October 2017.

## Contributions and limits of responsibility

He is president of the oil state. Teodorín was the named defendant. Sharing a household is not a reason to drop the US and French instruments from this presidency’s file. It is a reason not to write that Obiang was convicted in Paris. He was not. The Commission tabulated 2022. DOJ and the French courts wrote the asset file.

## Causal chain through facts

The 2014 settlement and the 2017–2021 French judgments strengthen the owned kleptocracy driver and [institutional corruption](/drivers/institutional-corruption). The 2022 94.9 percent return weakens electoral integrity and [civic space](/drivers/civic-space). They do not hang on Ukraine, eastern-drc-m23-rdf, or Soviet [state-repression](/drivers/state-repression).

## What the score does not say

This page does not promise an exact embezzled number. Direction on this chain is negative: the documented instruments are a closed ballot and a son’s confiscation file. A later genuine contest or a measured restitution series would be a different fact with a different date. Teodorín remains a name on this file, not a minted page.

## Dated facts

- 2022: National Electoral Board proclaims Obiang president-elect with 405,910 votes (94.9 percent). https://factrail.ai/facts/gq-election-2022. Sources: https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20221127-obiang-confirmed-for-sixth-term-as-president-of-equatorial-guinea, https://www.guineaecuatorialpress.com/noticias/s_e_obiang_nguema_mbasogo_proclamado_presidente_electo_de_guinea_ecuatorial.
- 2021: French Cour de cassation rejects Teodorín’s pourvoi; biens-mal-acquis file becomes definitive. https://factrail.ai/facts/gq-cassation-2021. Sources: https://www.asso-sherpa.org/affaire-bma-guinee-equatoriale-famille-obiang, https://star.worldbank.org/asset-recovery-watch-database/teodoro-nguema-obiang-mbasogo-teodoro-nguema-obiang-mangue-france.
- 2020: Paris Court of Appeal confirms Teodorín conviction and makes €30 million fine payable. https://factrail.ai/facts/gq-paris-appeal-2020. Sources: https://www.occrp.org/en/news/france-what-to-do-with-funds-seized-from-corrupt-foreigners, https://www.asso-sherpa.org/procedures-dates-cles-bma-guinee-equatoriale.
- 2017: Paris tribunal correctionnel convicts Teodorín and orders confiscation of seized French property. https://factrail.ai/facts/gq-paris-teodorin-2017. Sources: https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/271017/biens-mal-acquis-le-jugement-obiang-met-fin-l-impunite, https://www.asso-sherpa.org/procedures-dates-cles-bma-guinee-equatoriale.
- 2014: US DOJ settles Kleptocracy case: Teodorín relinquishes more than $30 million in US assets. https://factrail.ai/facts/gq-doj-teodorin-2014. Sources: https://star.worldbank.org/asset-recovery-watch-database/teodoro-nguema-obiang-mbasogo-teodoro-nguema-obiang-mangue-france, https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/second-vice-president-equatorial-guinea-agrees-relinquish-more-30-million-assets-purchased.

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/people/teodoro-obiang-nguema