On Monday it was reported that Brazilian authorities seized more than $16 million (R235 million) in cash and luxury watches from the vice-president of Equatorial Guinea and his 11-member delegation.
The following photos have emerged from the day.
Officials counting the healthy pile of US dollars.
The vice-president’s watches.
These items were seized by Brazil’s federal police after a search of their private jet, which arrived at an airport near Sao Paulo on Friday.
The vice-president’s flashy private jet.
Brazil doesn’t allow travellers to have more than $2,400 in cash upon entry to the South American country.
Mangue has diplomatic immunity, however, so was not included in the search operation. Brazil’s daily newspaper O Estado de Sao Paulo reported that everyone else had their luggage searched.
Money found in a Louis Vuitton briefcase.
Apparently the huge amount of money was for Obiang’a medical treatment in Sao Paulo and his hotel accommodation. The luxury watches were also engraved with Obiang’s initials.
Brazil’s foreign ministry said it was still deciding what further steps to take.
CNN has reported that Obiang has been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from his oil-rich country – buying mansions, cars and funding his lavish globe-trotting lifestyle.
They further reported that, in 2014, the vice-president had to sell his mansion in Malibu, California, as well as a Ferrari, along with paying $20 million to charity as part of a settlement deal following allegations that he had used public money to buy assets in the US.
He was reportedly also sentenced last year in France to a three-year suspended sentence on charges of embezzlement of public funds and money laundering.
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