Suspended Director-General of Equatorial Guinea’s National Financial Investigation Agency (ANIF), Baltasar Ebang Engonga, has been sentenced to eight years in prison on charges of embezzlement, months after he drew global attention over leaked sex tapes involving the wives of other officials.
According to Hilario Mitogo, press director at the Supreme Court, the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of misappropriating funds by claiming professional travel expenses and diverting them for personal use. Mitogo relayed the details of the judgment to reporters via WhatsApp.
Engonga, who previously headed the national financial investigation agency, faced trial alongside five other high-ranking officials accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in the oil-producing Central African nation.
Known by the nickname “Bello,” Engonga first made international headlines in November after explicit videos surfaced online.
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Some of the recordings, reportedly filmed in his office at the finance ministry, circulated widely on social media while he was in custody awaiting trial on corruption charges.
The scandal gave rise to parodies and online jokes, with internet users producing songs, dances, and even memes about a fictitious virility drug mockingly called “Balthazariem.”
Mitogo confirmed that the court sentenced Engonga to eight years’ imprisonment and ordered him to pay a fine of $220,000.
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