Gabon’s Special Criminal Court on Monday opened the graft trial of former first lady Sylvia Bongo and her son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, who are being tried in absentia.
Prosecutors accuse Sylvia Bongo of embezzling public funds, money laundering and criminal association. Her son faces charges of illicit enrichment, corruption and illegal transfer of funds. Local media reported allegations that billions of CFA francs moved through shell companies, offshore accounts and investments at complicit financial institutions.
They are tried alongside former presidential aides, including Mohamed Ali Saliou, a deputy chief of staff to ex-President Ali Bongo, and Ian Ghislain Ngoulou, Noureddin’s former chief of staff. Former presidential communications director Ella Ekogha Jessye is also among a total of 12 defendants, the court said. The hearing is due to resume on Wednesday.
Ali Bongo, toppled in a 2023 military coup that ended his family’s decades-long rule in the oil-producing country, is not implicated in the case.