- Former financial investigations head Baltasar Ebang Engonga, nicknamed “Bello,” was sentenced to 8 years.
- Found guilty of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel allowances.
- The court also imposed a $220,000 (Ksh. 28.5M) fine.
- Bello became infamous after leaked sex tapes with officials’ wives went viral.
- The scandal sparked ridicule, parody songs, and online jokes about a fake drug “Balthazariem.”
A Bioko provincial tribunal sentenced Baltasar Ebang Engonga, widely known as “Bello,” to eight years in prison for embezzlement. The court ruled that he diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel allowances for his personal use.
Supreme Court press director Hilario Mitogo confirmed the ruling during a press briefing on Wednesday.
Engonga, who once led the national financial investigation agency, was tried alongside five other senior officials accused of misappropriating public funds.
Bello gained international attention in November last year when explicit videos of him with the wives of fellow officials were leaked online while he was in detention.
Some of the clips were reportedly filmed inside the finance ministry. The scandal went viral on social media, sparking parody songs, dance challenges, and jokes about a fictitious “virility drug” called Balthazariem.
In addition to the prison term, the provincial court fined Bello $220,000, equivalent to about Ksh. 28.5 million.
The case has attracted widespread public attention in Equatorial Guinea, a country where corruption scandals are common but rarely mixed with such sensational controversies.
