Ill-gotten gains in Gabon: four children of Omar Bongo indicted in France
The Paris court in the 17th arrondissement (illustration image).
AFP - PHILIPPE LOPEZ
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
The case of ill-gotten gains is back in the news in Gabon.
Four children of late President Omar Bongo have been indicted by French justice.
They are accused of concealment, embezzlement of public funds, active and passive corruption and abuse of corporate assets, following the acquisition of a large building stock in France during the last decades.
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Grace, Betty, Arthur and Hermine Bongo are now all in their fifties.
The financial judge Dominique Blanc indicted them successively, between March 25 and April 5, 2022. At issue:
the real estate they hold in France
.
Justice suspects them of having benefited from an important heritage fraudulently acquired by Omar Bongo in his time.
A heritage that would amount to around 85 million euros.
And above all, according to the National Financial Prosecutor's Office, these children knew that the origin of the funds was fraudulent.
Indignation
Precisely, Me Elise Arfi, who defends Grace Bongo, says today "
deeply indignant
" and "
disputes these accusations
".
According to her, her client is "
completely in good faith
" and did not know the source of the money.
The lawyer wonders about this indictment which comes 25 years after “
perfectly legal
” real estate acquisitions, she says, with “
sellers who received the money from the sale, and taxes which have always been paid
".
"
Everything is done on a regular basis
," she says.
Appeal
According to Me Elise Arfi, French justice ultimately wishes to seize all these assets, which would undermine the principle of legal certainty, which protects against the negative effects of the law, as well as the right to property.
The lawyer already promises an appeal with the filing, soon, of a motion for nullity of the indictment.
The case of ill-gotten gains is an old case with an investigation launched in 2007. Omar Bongo died in 2009. Other children of Omar Bongo are in the sights of French justice.
Starting with current President Ali Bongo, and his sister Pascaline, former Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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To read also: Gabon: new judicial episode in the French part of the case of ill-gotten gains
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Omar Bongo
Ali Bongo Ondimba