Baltasar Engonga, the former head of the Agencia Nacional de Investigación Financiera de Guinea Ecuatorial (ANIF) and nephew of the President of Equatorial Guinea, has been sentenced to eight years in prison following an embezzlement trial that began in July 2025.
A provincial court in Bioko found Engonga guilty of diverting public funds, which had been claimed as professional travel expenses, for personal use.
The ruling was confirmed by Hilario Mitogo, press director of the Supreme Court, in a statement to reporters.
Nicknamed “Bello”, Engonga was charged alongside five other senior officials for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in the oil-rich Central African country.
The scandal attracted international attention in November 2024, when explicit personal videos of Engonga — some reportedly filmed inside his finance ministry office — were leaked online while he was already in detention.
The videos sparked a storm of social media activity, including fake accounts, memes, and even spoof songs, one of which referenced a fictional virility substance jokingly named “Balthazariem.”
The court also imposed a $220,000 fine in addition to the prison sentence.
