What began as routine aircraft maintenance in 2018 spiraled into one of Equatorial Guinea’s most scandalous corruption sagas.
Ruslan Obiang Nsue—the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest-serving leader—has been convicted for the illegal sale of a state-owned plane, a crime that has shaken both the ruling family and the nation’s pride.
A Disappearing Act in the Skies
As director of Ceiba Intercontinental, the country’s national airline, Ruslan oversaw an ATR 72-500 aircraft that was sent abroad for servicing. Instead of returning to Malabo, the jet mysteriously “vanished.” Investigations later revealed it had been sold to a Spanish company without the approval of the airline’s board. The funds? Allegedly pocketed by Ruslan himself.
The Court’s Verdict
In August 2025, a Malabo court found him guilty of orchestrating the fraudulent deal. The ruling handed him a six-year prison sentence, which he can avoid only if he reimburses the state US $255,000 plus fines.
Earlier charges of embezzlement and abuse of office were dropped, though prosecutors had originally demanded a far harsher penalty: 18 years in prison and nearly US $847,000 in fines.
A Dynasty in Turmoil
The scandal carries a deeper irony—Ruslan’s arrest in January 2023 was ordered not by outsiders, but by his own half-brother, Vice President Teodorin Obiang, himself long dogged by international corruption cases and lavish lifestyle scandals in France. The move spotlighted cracks within one of Africa’s most entrenched ruling dynasties.
Meanwhile, their father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, remains firmly in power since seizing control in 1979—an unbroken 46-year reign that has outlasted most global leaders.
Why It Matters
This case isn’t just about one plane—it’s about the corrosion of public trust and the weight of dynastic power. The conviction underscores how state assets can be treated as private property, and how even family ties buckle when corruption scandals threaten the regime’s credibility.
For ordinary Equatoguineans, the saga is a bitter reminder that while oil wealth and state resources should uplift the people, too often they vanish—like the missing jet—into the hands of the powerful.
