Omar Bongo

El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo) has been President of Gabon since 1967. President Bongo is one of the wealthiest heads of state in the world, with his wealth originating primarily from the benefits of oil revenue and alleged corruption.1  In recent years, Bongo has also been associated with hundreds of millions of euros of illicit payments by Elf Aquitaine, the former French state-owned oil group. 2 Allegedly, an Elf representative testified that the company paid 50 million euros per year to President Bongo for oil exploration rights in Gabon.

Beginning in June 2007, Bongo and several other African presidents have been under investigation by French magistrates following complaints made by French NGOs Survie and Sherpa that they used millions of dollars of embezzled public funds to acquire properties in France. In February 2009, France froze nine of Bongo's bank accounts holding more than four million euros 3 after a court ordered that he should return CFA 300 million (USD 583,454) paid to him for the release of a jailed French businessman. A French police investigation reportedly established that Bongo and his family own at least 33 luxury properties in France, including a villa in Paris bought in 2007 for 18.8 million euros (23.7 million dollars), 4  in the highest-priced neighborhood in Paris. 5   Mr. Bongo's relations with Paris have deteriorated in recent years amid legal challenges by anti-corruption activists. 6

Developing...