Court Sentences Baltasar Engonga To 8-year Jail Term For Embezzlement

A court in Equatorial Guinea has sentenced a former senior government official, Baltasar Ebang Engonga, to eight years in prison for embezzlement, months after he gained global notoriety over a sex tape scandal.

The Bioko Provincial Tribunal found Engonga, who once headed the country’s national financial investigation agency, guilty of diverting public funds meant for official travel into personal use.

Press Director of the country’s Supreme Court, Hilario Mitogo confirmed the judgment in a WhatsApp message to reporters on Wednesday.

He statied that Engonga was convicted of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars alongside five other senior officials.

Nicknamed “Bello,” Engonga, a married man, made international headlines in November 2024 when sexually explicit videos featuring him and the wives of other officials surfaced online while he was already in detention for the embezzlement case.

Some of the clips were reportedly filmed inside his office at the Ministry of Finance, sparking outrage and ridicule.

The scandal triggered a flood of parodies across social media, including songs, dances, and memes about a spoof virility drug dubbed “Balthazariem.”

According to Mitogo, in addition to the prison term, the court ordered Engonga to pay a $220,000 fine.

Engonga and his co-accused were part of a high-profile probe in the oil-rich Central African nation, where allegations of corruption and mismanagement have long dogged senior government officials.