Raid in the Bongo clan. The eldest son and relatives of former Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba's cabinet were indicted and jailed for "high treason" and "active corruption", three weeks after the coup that overthrew the ousted leader.

The prosecutor of Libreville, André-Patrick Roponat, announced Wednesday (September 20th) to AFP that Noureddin Bongo Valentin, the eldest son of Ali Bongo, Jessye Ella Ekogha, the former spokesman of the presidency, as well as four other people were "indicted Tuesday and placed in provisional detention".

"All the charges during their arrests have been retained for their indictments," said André-Patrick Roponat, or "high treason against state institutions, massive embezzlement of public funds, international financial embezzlement in organized gang, forgery and use of forgery, falsification of the signature of the President of the Republic, active corruption, drug trafficking."

On August 30, less than an hour after the announcement in the middle of the night of the re-election of Ali Bongo, in power since 2009 and accused of massive fraud, the military, led by General Brice Oligui Nguema, overthrew him, accusing his regime of "massive embezzlement" of public funds.

Ali Bongo, "free of his movements"

On the very day of the coup, the military arrested one of the sons of the deposed head of state, as well as five other young senior officials in the cabinet of the former president and his wife Sylvia Bongo Valentin. The searches of their homes, broadcast extensively on state television, showed them at the foot of trunks, suitcases and bags overflowing with wads of banknotes.

Sylvia Bongo Valentin is under house arrest in Libreville "for her protection", according to the presidency. "We have no news of Ms. Valentin who is being held incommunicado outside any legal framework. This situation is unjustifiable and incompatible with the rule of law. We have filed a complaint against those responsible for what appears to be a hostage-taking," one of his lawyers in Paris, François Zimeray, told AFP on Wednesday.

Ali Bongo, first placed under house arrest in Libreville, the capital of Gabon is "free of his movements" and can "go abroad", announced General Oligui on September 6.

Survey on "ill-gotten gains"

On September 13, General Brice Oligui Nguema, appointed transitional president, announced a commission of inquiry on public procurement to track down "fraud".

After the putsch, the former aide-de-camp of Omar Bongo – former president of Gabon and who had ruled the country with an iron fist for more than 40 years – had immediately summoned the bosses practicing "overbilling" against retrocommissions paid to the senior officials of the fallen power to "stop these maneuvers" in the awarding of public contracts, during a threatening speech in front of 200 to 300 Gabonese business leaders "summoned" to the presidency.

" READ ALSO Bongo father and son, a dynasty in power in Gabon for more than 55 years

A few days later, he publicly taunted hundreds of senior civil servants and executives in the public sector: "Come and return the embezzled funds within 48 hours otherwise we will come to get you and you will see the difference," he said.

Following a complaint by NGOs in 2007, Parisian anti-corruption judges looked into suspicions of embezzlement of public funds that had allowed the Bongo family to acquire considerable assets in France.

Several members of the Bongo family, from Omar, the late father, to Ali, the son, through other relatives, including his daughter Pascaline, are suspected of having benefited from a large real estate heritage "fraudulently" acquired and valued by the justice "at 85 million euros".

" READ ALSO The Bongo system, its millions and the case of ill-gotten gains

Nine children of Omar Bongo are indicted in France, including for concealment of embezzlement of public funds as part of the investigation into "ill-gotten gains".

Gabon, ruled by the Bongo family since 1967, where Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar when he died in 2009, is often denounced for the extent of corruption there. The country is ranked 136th out of 180 for corruption perception by Transparency International (2022).

With AFP

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