Gabon: a new series of indictments targets 4 other children of Omar Bongo in France
In total, at least 8 of the 54 children of the former Gabonese head of state Omar Bongo are being prosecuted within the framework of this judicial investigation opened in France.
(illustration image) © AFP/Eric Feferberg
Text by: RFI Follow
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In France, justice has indicted at least 4 children of former Gabonese President Omar Bongo, between this month and last month, in the so-called "ill-gotten gains" file.
They are prosecuted for concealment of embezzlement of public funds, active and passive corruption, money laundering and misuse of corporate assets.
In total, at least 8 of the 54 children of the former head of state are being prosecuted within the framework of this judicial investigation opened in France.
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Among the 4 new indicted in this case are notably Pascaline Bongo, 66, who was her father's chief of staff, and Omar Denis Junior Bongo, 28, who is also the grandson of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.
Justice suspects these 4 children of Omar Bongo of having "
knowingly
" benefited from a real estate heritage fraudulently constituted in France by their father.
All of these properties have recently been valued by the courts at at least 85 million euros.
Earlier in the year
, the financial judge had already indicted 4 other children of the former head of state... who led Gabon from 1967 to 2009. All denied being aware of the presumed fraudulent nature of this wealth.
In a ruling handed
down in February
, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that the fortune of the Bongo family “
comes from money resulting from embezzlement of public funds.
»
In addition to the children of Omar Bongo and the BNP Paribas group, 14 individuals are being prosecuted in this case, including members of the family of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso and several French people.
The indictment of Pascaline Bongo is very recent but we expected it because we understood that the machine was launched and that unfortunately, despite the arguments that we were able to raise both on the legal anachronism of this procedure and on its emptiness, there is a deliberate desire to go all the way in this so-called "ill-gotten gains" affair.
Corinne Dreyfus-Schmidt, lawyer for Pascaline Bongo
Magali Lagrange
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Gabon
Justice
France