A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for embezzlement, following a scandal involving leaked sex tapes.
According to Supreme Court press director Hilario Mitogo, the Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of misappropriating funds claimed as professional travel expenses for personal use.
Engonga, who previously headed the national financial investigation agency, was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in the oil-rich country.
Widely known as “Bello,” Engonga attracted international attention last November when explicit videos—some reportedly filmed in his finance ministry office—surfaced on social media while he was in pretrial detention. The scandal sparked widespread parodies online, including mock songs and jokes about a fictional aphrodisiac named “Balthazariem.”
The court also imposed a fine of $220,000 as part of his sentence.
