Prosecutors in Equatorial Guinea have called for an 18-year prison sentence for Ruslan Obiang Nsue, the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, for his involvement in selling a national airline’s plane. Alongside the prison term, they are demanding that Ruslan pay a fine of 500 million CFA francs ($850,000).
The scandal erupted after an ATR 72-500 plane belonging to Ceiba Intercontinental, which had been in Spain since 2018, mysteriously disappeared. Ruslan, a former deputy managing director of the airline, admitted in court to selling the plane to a Spanish firm but claimed he only received 125,000 euros ($138,000) out of the agreed 250,000 euros.
Ruslan was arrested in January 2023 and placed under house arrest, facing charges of abuse of office, misuse of public assets, and embezzling public funds. The trial was suspended, with no date provided for a judgement.
This case adds to the controversy surrounding the ruling Obiang family. President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has ruled Equatorial Guinea for over 45 years, while his eldest son, Vice President Teodorin Nguema Obiang Mangue, was sentenced to a three-year suspended jail term and fined 30 million euros by a French court in 2021 for misappropriating millions of euros in public funds.
