Chronology

1935, December 30: El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba born Albert-Bernard Bongo.

1962 March : Became Assistant Director of the Presidential Cabinet, later named Director after seven months.

1964: During a coup attempt, President M'ba was kidnapped and Bongo was held in a military camp in Libreville, though the alliance was placed back in power two days later.

1966, November 12: Bongo appointed Vice President by President M'ba, whose health was declining.

1967 March 19:  M'ba re-elected as President and Bongo was elected alongside him as Vice-President.

1967, December 2: Bongo became President following the death of M'ba on November 28.

1996: Rene Cardona, a French businessman  was imprisoned after a business dispute with President Bongo, to whom he had sold a fishing and shipping firm. The businessman was released after his son paid money into Bongo's personal bank account.

1999: Alleged to  have deposited $130 million in USA banks. This emerged in US sanate hearings. 1

2007: French police investigations reveal that Bongo purchased a villa in Paris for 18.8 million euros.

2009 Feb 26: France froze bank accounts held by Bongo after a court ordered return of a payment made to him as ransom for the release Rene Cardona. 2 The verdict was confirmed at appeal and the sum due including interest and legal costs were calculated at more than one million euros.

2009, March: France froze nine of Bongo's bank accounts held at Credit Lyonnais, in which Bongo has two current accounts, two savings accounts and a share account, and BNP, in which he has two checking accounts, a savings account, and a share account.

2009, April: News spread that Bongo has accounts in Monaco containing a total of £50 million looted from Gabon. It emerged that he had bought a fleet of limousines for his deceased wife, Edith (daughter of Sassou-Nguesso), and payment for some of the cars came directly from the treasury of Gabon. Since her death in March 2009, associates and relations of Bongo and Sassou-Nguesso have been trying to get access to the accounts held in Edith's name. 3