Swiss authorities have seized a collection of supercars from Teodorin Nguema Obiang – the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president – and are auctioning them off in Geneva, Switzerland.
Teodorin Nguema Obiang is vice-president to his father, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea for 40 years and Swiss authorities have seized 25 of his cars as part of a financial wrongdoing case against Obiang. All will be sold with no reserve price. Auction house Bonhams will be handling the transactions.
The cars – a variety of Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys and Rolls Royces – are expected to gather about $18.5 million in total with a Lamborghini Veneno Roadster [valued at up to $6.2 million] and an Aston Martin One-77 Coupe [valued at up to $1.7 million] expected to receive the most vigorous bidding.
The proceeds of the sales will be donated to a charity in Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, although the tiny West African nation is regularly cited by NGOs as one of the most corrupt in the world.