Equatorial Guinea VP orders half-brother’s arrest over sale of plane

Equatorial Guinea’s Vice-President Teodorin Obiang ordered the arrest of his half-brother after an inquiry found he had illegally sold a state-owned jet to a Spanish company, and pocketed the money, a government statement says.

The vice-president “expressed indignation” when he learned that Ruslan Obiang Nsue, the assistant director of state-owned Ceiba International airline, had sold the jet, the statement said

He has asked his father – the president – to suspend his half-brother from “all his functions in the state company”, it added.

President Teodoro Obiang has ruled the tiny oil-rich state since 1979 and has filled senior government positions with members of his family.

In 2021, French courts sentenced the vice-president, widely known as Teodorin, to a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 30m euros ($32.6m; £26.2m) for money laundering.

He was accused of buying luxury apartments and other property in France with the proceeds of the theft of Equatorial Guinea’s resources. BBC News