Geneva seizes 11 cars of son of Equatorial Guinea president

GENEVA – Eleven luxury vehicles and sports cars belonging to the son of Equatorial Guinea’s president have been seized in Geneva as part of a preliminary investigation into alleged corruption, authorities said Thursday.

The cars belonging to Teodorin Obiang were confiscated Monday in the freight zone at Geneva’s airport, Henri Della Casa, a spokesman for the Geneva prosecutor’s office, said.

L’Hebdo magazine reported on its Web site that the vehicles included a Bugatti Veyron valued at 2 million euros ($2.2 million), and a Swedish-made Koenigsegg One:1. Koenigsegg spokesman Steven Wade said only seven of those models have been produced at a base price of $2.8 million.

Vincent Derouand, another spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, provided a list of the seized vehicles later Thursday that also included at least three Ferraris, a McLaren P1, and an Aston Martin One77.

Obiang is facing a preliminary investigation in Switzerland in connection with a case in neighbouring France, where he faces trial for alleged misspending of public funds.

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This story has been corrected to state in the second paragraph that the last name of the cars’ owner is Obiang.