A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for theft. The ruling comes months after he gained global attention for sex tapes involving wives of other officials.
In a WhatsApp message, Supreme Court press director Hilario Mitogo said the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty. He misappropriated funds intended for professional travel and diverted them for personal use.
Baltasar Engonga, also called “Bello,” once served as chief of the national financial investigation agency. Authorities charged him and five senior officials with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In November, while awaiting trial, sex films linked to Engonga went viral on social media. Some were reportedly recorded inside his finance ministry office. The scandal triggered online parodies, songs, dances, and even fake promotions of a so-called virility drug, “Balthazariem.”
According to Mitogo, the provincial court sentenced Engonga to eight years and fined him $220,000.
