Equatorial Guinea court sentences Baltasar Engonga to 8 years in Prison

A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced senior government official Baltasar Ebang Engonga to eight years in prison for embezzlement, months after his name made international headlines over leaked sex tapes.

The Bioko provincial tribunal found Engonga guilty of diverting hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds that had been allocated for official travel expenses, according to Hilario Mitogo, press director of the Supreme Court.

In addition to the jail term, he was ordered to pay a fine of $220,000.

Engonga, who previously headed the country’s national financial investigation agency, stood trial alongside five other senior officials accused of misappropriating state resources in the oil-rich Central African nation.

The disgraced official first drew global attention in November when explicit videos featuring him and the wives of other officials surfaced online.

Some of the clips were reportedly filmed inside his finance ministry office while he was already in detention awaiting trial.

The scandal provoked widespread ridicule in Equatorial Guinea, inspiring parodies, comic skits, dances, and even a spoof virility drug branded “Balthazariem.”

However, the tribunal’s judgment focused solely on financial crimes, imposing the eight-year prison term and financial penalty without reference to the viral controversy.