Hypercar Collection Seized From Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Heading To Auction.
More than two dozen cars seized from Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, are set to be auctioned off later this year. His spending habits are usually the matter of contention as he dips into the country’s coffers to fuel his high-flying lifestyle.
The seized hypercars on auction are just part of a larger collection of 25 vehicles that include luxury convertibles and limousines, including Maseratis, Porsches and a Mercedes-Maybach. The items of real interest to car fans will be the limited-edition high-performance models such as the Aston Martin One-77, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari LaFerrari, Koenigsegg One:1, Lamborghini Veneno Roadster and McLaren P1.
The cars were confiscated by Swiss authorities in 2016 after Mangue allegedly paid for them using state funds. In 2017, he was sentenced to a suspended three years in jail in France after reportedly embezzling $175m from his country’s finances to buy luxury cars, real estate and other assets.
The collection will be sold off during a Bonhams auction scheduled for September 29 near Geneva. The cars are being sold on behalf of the Swiss government. The seized hypercars on auction is expected to sell off for over €12m (R194m). Proceeds will be donated to social programs in Equatorial Guinea. The small state is one of the largest oil-producing states in Africa and considered the wealthiest in sub-Saharan Africa, but also suffers from extreme forms of corruption.
This isn’t the first time a collection of cars owned by Mangue were seized and sold at auction. A previous collection included two Veyrons, a Ferrari Enzo and a Porsche Carrera GT were seized by French authorities in 2011 and sold in 2013 for $4 million.
