Equatorial Guinea Jails Top Official Engonga 8 Years For Embezzlement

A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for embezzlement, months after he made global headlines when leaked sex tapes involving him and the wives of other officials surfaced online.

Hilario Mitogo, press director of the Supreme Court, confirmed that a Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds meant for official travel. The court also imposed a $220,000 fine.

Engonga, formerly head of the national financial investigation agency, was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of misusing state resources in the oil-rich Central African nation.

His notoriety soared last November when explicit videos — some allegedly filmed inside his finance ministry office — spread online while he awaited trial. The scandal sparked widespread ridicule, inspiring parodies, comic songs, dances, and even a spoof virility drug named Balthazariem.

Despite the uproar, the court limited its verdict to financial crimes, sentencing Engonga to prison and ordering him to pay the hefty fine.