South Africa: Dictator's son orders luxury yacht for US$380m

Johannesburg (AP):

The son of Equatorial Guinea's dictator of 30 years commissioned plans to build a luxury yacht costing US$380 million, nearly three times what the country spends on health and education each year, a corruption watchdog disclosed.

The statement from Global Witness said that German company Kusch Yachts has been asked to build the yacht, housing a cinema, restaurant, bar and swimming pool, though construction has not yet started.

Global Witness has been urging Washington to institute sanctions against Teodorin Obiang, whose extravagant lifestyle currently includes a US$35-million mansion in Malibu, California, a US$33-million jet and a fleet of luxury cars, while earning a salary of US$6,799 a month as agriculture minister.

The government press office in Equatorial Guinea confirmed that the president's son had ordered the yacht design, but said he "then dismissed the idea of buying it".

It said that if the order had gone ahead, he would have bought it with income from private business activities and not "with funds derived from sources of illegal financing or corruption".

President Teodoro Obiang, who reportedly is grooming his son to succeed him as president, took power in a bloody 1979 coup. Forbes has estimated his wealth at around US$600 million.