The probe was prompted by French civil society campaigners who want the justice system to question how the leaders of Gabon, Congo Republic and Equatorial Guinea and their families could afford to acquire assets worth tens of millions of euros.
The activists scored a big success in May when a magistrate launched a judicial investigation into their allegations that the assets were bought with embezzled public funds. But state prosecutors immediately appealed to try to stop the probe.
An appeals court on Thursday ruled in favour of the prosecutors, arguing that the civil society activists could not legitimately act as plaintiffs against the foreign heads of state and that the investigation should not proceed.
The decision is a major setback for the anti-corruption group Transparency International, which has spearheaded the case. It had hoped to create a precedent that would stop corrupt heads of state from enjoying their wealth abroad with impunity.
French police had looked into the three presidents’ French assets in 2007 following a tip-off from the activists.
The result was a thick file listing dozens of bank accounts, properties in rich districts of Paris and on the Riviera, and a collection of Bugattis, Ferraris, Maybachs, Maseratis and other luxury cars.
The following are key facts about the three countries and the French police file, which Reuters has obtained.
The police report gives the prices of the luxury cars, but not the values of all the properties or the amounts held on the bank accounts. At market prices, the properties are worth tens of millions of euros but there is no precise total available.
GABON
A former French colony, Gabon is the fourth-biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the longest-established on the continent. It expects output of 273,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2009.
The local arm of French oil group Total (TOTF.PA) is the top producer, pumping 73,000 bpd in 2008.
The late President Omar Bongo came to power in 1967 with French support and was Africa’s longest-serving ruler when he died in June. He enjoyed close friendships with successive French presidents. He was succeeded by his son, Ali Ben Bongo.
According to the police report, the Bongo family own 39 properties in France, mostly in exclusive districts of Paris and on the Riviera, and 70 bank accounts. They also have nine luxury cars worth a total of 1,5 million euros.
Police noted that the way some of the vehicles were paid for was “unusual, to say the least”. For example, Omar Bongo’s late wife Edith bought a Maybach 57 worth 326,752 euros with a cheque from an account held by the Gabon treasury at the Bank of France.
Through a French lawyer, Bongo denied that his and his family’s assets were acquired with embezzled public funds.
CONGO REPUBLIC
Also a former French colony, Congo Republic is the fifth-biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa with a daily output estimated at 220,000 bpd. Total is the number one producer, with output of 85,000 bpd.
President Denis Sassou-Nguesso seized power in a coup in 1979 and ruled until 1992, when he lost an election. He returned to power in 1997 after a civil war. Like the Bongos, he has enjoyed backing from Paris and President Nicolas Sarkozy visited him in the capital Brazzaville in March.
French police found that Sassou-Nguesso and his close relatives own 24 properties and 112 bank accounts in France.
They found that Sassou-Nguesso’s daughter Edith, who was Bongo’s late wife, and other members of the ruling family of Congo, bought a mansion in the rich 8th district of Paris for 18,9 million euros — the single biggest transaction mentioned in the police file.
In an interview in March with French newspaper Le Figaro, Sassou-Nguesso said his French property portfolio was modest and he was not responsible for what his children and relatives did.
He said he had acquired Villa Suzette, a mansion in the rich Paris suburb of Le Vesinet, to house his children while they were studying in France.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA
A former Spanish colony, tiny Equatorial Guinea burst onto the sub-Saharan African oil scene relatively late, in 1992, and has quickly risen to the rank of third-biggest producer, after Nigeria and Angola. Oil output is estimated at 380000 bpd.
President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo seized power from his dictatorial uncle in a palace coup in 1979 and has ruled ever since. Amnesty International says his human rights record is one of the worst on the continent.
French police identified eight luxury cars and one apartment in a wealthy part of Paris owned by Obiang’s son Teodorin, also minister for agriculture and forestry. The cars, worth a total of 4,2 million euros, are two Ferraris, one Maybach, two Bugattis, one Rolls-Royce Phantom and two Maseratis.
Authorities in Equatorial Guinea have not responded specifically to the French investigation, although they have defended their record in the past, saying it was legal in their country for ministers to receive commissions on business deals.
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