Grace, Betty, Arthur then Hermine: four children of the late Gabonese President Omar Bongo Ondimba have just been indicted by the French courts for the first time.
The reason ?
The fifteen-year-old file of Gabonese "ill-gotten gains" in France.
Fraudulent property assets
Between March 25 and April 5, financial judge Dominique Blanc successively indicted Grace (58), Betty (55), Arthur (51) then Hermine Bongo (53), for concealment of embezzlement of public funds, active and passive corruption and misuse of corporate assets.
French justice indeed suspects several members of the Bongo family, from Omar the late father to Ali, the son and current president, via the daughter Pascaline, of having "knowingly" benefited from a large real estate heritage "fraudulently “Acquired by the patriarch and whose value has recently been assessed by the courts” at least 85 million euros “.
BNP Paribas implicated
The four indicted children of the man who was President of Gabon from 1967 to his death in 2009 all challenged before the judge to be aware of this fraudulent origin.
After the indictment of the BNP in May 2021, these accusations mark a new acceleration in this difficult and long-term investigation, triggered after a complaint in March 2007. Other children, among the 54 of the former historical ally of France, could follow.
In this case of ill-gotten gains, in addition to the Bongo children and BNP Paribas, fourteen other individuals are being prosecuted, including members of the family of Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso and several French people, including a lawyer, a notary, a company manager real estate civil (SCI), etc.
World
Gabon: The Constitutional Court validates the re-election of President Ali Bongo
World
Gabon: The presidency recognizes the seriousness of Ali Bongo's state of health
World
Gabon
omar bongo
Justice
Indicted