Playboy vice-president who bought Jackson’s glove hit by UK sanctions
THE vice-president of Equatorial Guinea, who paid £200,000 for Michael Jackson’s crystal-studded glove, has been hit with sweeping sanctions by the UK government.
Teodoro Obiang Mangue, the son of the country’s president, is one of five people facing penalties for serious corruption under a move announced by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary.
The 53-year-old was accused by the Foreign Office of having participated in “corrupt contracting arrangements and soliciting bribes, to fund a lavish lifestyle inconsistent with his official salary as a government minister”.
Britain said he had bought a £73 million mansion in Paris, a £28 million private jet, a yacht, and dozens of cars including Ferraris, Bentleys and Aston Martins.
The glove, which was worn by Michael Jackson during his “Bad” tour was at the centre of a legal battle with the US government which tried to block the deal.
Despite abundant natural resources, more than three quarters of the population of Equatorial Guinea live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
Obiang’s father, Obiang Nguema, 79, has ruled the country since seizing power in 1979. He was accused by Human Rights Watch of using an oil boom “to enrich himself further at the expense of the country’s people”.
Kudakwashe Regimond Tagwirei from Zimbabwe, Alex Nain Saab Morán and Alvaro Enrique Pulido Vargas from
Venezuela and Nawfal Hammadi Al-sultan from Iraq were also sanctioned.
All five will have their assets frozen in the UK and will be banned from entering the country.
They are the second group of individuals to be hit by the UK’S Global Anticorruption sanctions regime.
“The action we have taken today targets individuals who have lined their own pockets at the expense of their citizens,” Mr Raab said.
“The UK is committed to fighting the blight of corruption and holding those responsible for its corrosive effect to account.”
Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said: “The US is committed to working with our allies in the fight against corruption. Today’s action by the UK is an important step in this effort.”
‘This action targets those who have lined their own pockets at the expense of their citizens’