The collection of luxury cars seized from the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodorin Obiang Nguema, was offered at an auction in Switzerland and is estimated to be sold for around 17 million euros, writes the British "Guardian".
"This is an exceptional sale," said Philip Kantor, from the British auction house "Bonam". "This is a private collection of low-mileage supercars."
Among the cars offered at an auction at a golf club in Geneva are seven "Ferraris", three "Laborghini", five "Bentleys", one "Maserati" and one "Mclaren".
The cars were seized after a financial embezzlement investigation was opened in 2016 against Obiang, the son and likely successor of Equatorial Guinea's authoritarian president, Theodore Obiang Nguema, who has ruled the country for 40 years.
In February, Swiss prosecutors dropped the indictment but seized the cars as part of the case.
Teodorin Obiang, the vice president responsible for defense and security, is known for his extravagant lifestyle.
In October 2017, a Paris court sentenced him to a three-year suspended prison sentence after he was convicted of using state money to buy property in France. He is accused of spending 1000 times his official annual salary on a six-story luxury home in the French capital, several fast cars and artwork.
He was also fined 30 million euros.
In September, Brazilian media reported that police there had seized 16 million euros in cash and luxury watches from a delegation accompanying Obiang on a private visit. Diplomatic sources in Equatorial Guinea said at the time that the money was to pay for medical treatment Obiang was to undergo in Sao Paulo.
The watches were for the "personal use" of the president's son and were engraved with his initials.
Obiang is on track to succeed his father. Last October, he was promoted from the rank of colonel to general, while skipping a series of ranks.
This small West African country is among the leading producers of petroleum in the world and has a population of only 1,2 million inhabitants. NGOs regularly list it as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
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