S€x tape scandal: Court sentences Baltasar Engonga to jail

A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga, a former high-ranking government official, to eight years in prison after finding him guilty of embezzlement in a case that has captivated the nation.

Engonga, who once led the National Financial Investigation Agency, became notorious in November 2024 when several sex tapes surfaced online, featuring him with multiple women, including the spouses of other senior officials.

This scandal erupted while he was already under investigation for corruption, which only intensified public outrage.

Hilario Mitogo, the Press Director of the Supreme Court, stated that the Bioko provincial tribunal concluded that Engonga misappropriated funds meant for professional travel expenses for his personal use.

In addition to his prison sentence, the court also imposed a fine of $220,000.

Engonga was tried alongside five other senior officials who faced similar accusations of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds.

While the details of their individual sentences have not been released yet, court documents revealed that the charges are part of a larger investigation into widespread financial misconduct within government agencies.

The case has shed light on corruption and scandal at the highest levels of government, and for many Equatoguineans, the leaked sex tapes highlighted a “culture of impunity” among the political elite.