Vice President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Nguema Obiang had a luxury yacht and two residences seized by South African authorities.
A judge ordered the seizures after Daniel Janse van Rensburg, a local businessman, sued Obiang for unlawful arrest and torture.
He has demanded $2.2 million in compensation.
Due to a botched business deal, he alleges he was imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea for around 500 days.
The vice president, the son of the longest-ruling dictator in history, has not yet commented on the matter.
He and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo have been accused of mismanaging the country’s resources.
It is the latest in a string of verdicts from various jurisdictions against him.
The billionaire’s attorney, Errol Eldson, said “We added two properties in Cape Town to a formal application two weeks ago. The superyacht last Tuesday”
In addition, he indicated that a petition to auction off the property had been lodged.
Mr. Van Rensburg has long challenged the vice-president in court in South Africa, and this year he published a book describing how a 2013 business trip to Equatorial Guinea “turned into a voyage to the depths of hell” after his “harrowing imprisonment” in the infamous Black Beach prison.
According to Mr. Eldson, his client’s airline in Equatorial Guinea was established in partnership with a local politician. The politician later withdrew from the business and demanded remuneration.
The politician apparently called Vice-President Obiang regarding the matter, and an elite security force squad “picked Daniel up. He was thrown inside Black Beach prison,” according to his counsel.
Obiang is widely believed to be being groomed to succeed his father, who has been in power for the last 43 years.
A month ago, he had his half-brother imprisoned for selling a jet
It was believed that his half-brother had stolen the transaction’s funds. He has not publicly addressed the allegations.
In 2014, the United States authorities seized a $30 million Malibu estate and other assets, including a Ferrari, on the grounds that they had been acquired with illicit funds.
Swiss authorities seized eleven luxury vehicles from him two years later. A Bugatti, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys, and Rolls Royce, among others, were sold for about $27 million at auction.
In 2021, a French court will defer his sentence for squandering public funds to fund a luxury lifestyle in France. He stated that he had committed no wrongdoing.
In the same year, he received “anti-corruption” fines from the United Kingdom.
According to police, a $275,000 crystal-covered glove worn by the late singer during his 1980s Bad tour was part of his Michael Jackson collection.
The United Kingdom has declared that the new sanctions target individuals who “lined their own pockets at the expense of their fellow citizens.”
