A court in Bioko, Equatorial Guinea has handed down an eight-year prison sentence to Baltasar Ebang Engonga, a former senior government official, for embezzlement.
Engonga, who previously headed the national financial investigation agency, was found guilty of diverting public funds meant for official travel expenses for personal use.
The Bioko Provincial Tribunal also imposed a fine of $220,000 on Engonga, who was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of misappropriating hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds.
The case against Engonga gained international attention after explicit videos featuring him with multiple women, including the spouses of other officials, surfaced online while he was in detention awaiting trial.
Some of the videos were reportedly filmed inside his office at the Ministry of Finance, sparking widespread outrage and ridicule.
The scandal led to a wave of online parodies, including songs, dances, and posts about a mock virility drug dubbed “Balthazariem”.
