A daughter of Gabon’s late President Omar Bongo has for years been siphoning cash from her dad’s property – blowing the money on jewellery, luxurious holidays and jaunts on yachts and personal jets, a brand new $50 million lawsuit alleges.
The autocrat — who was the president of the oil-rich Central African nation for 42 years — left behind a whole lot of tens of millions in his property, which he bequeathed to 53 heirs when he died in 2009, in line with the Manhattan Supreme Court docket swimsuit.
However one in all his daughters, Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba, allegedly drafted a doc making herself the executor, with out consent from her dad or the opposite heirs, in line with the swimsuit filed Tuesday.
Yamilee Bongo Astier, one other of the president’s 30 youngsters, claims that her sister has allegedly been abusing her function because the executor to lie concerning the true dimension of the property and to steal cash for herself, the submitting states.
Pascaline has refused to indicate the total will to the household and has informed them the worth of the property is simply $50 million as an alternative of the true quantity – which is a whole lot of tens of millions, the lawsuit alleges.
“Pascaline misrepresented to plaintiffs the character of the belongings within the property, omitting invaluable actual property and different belongings owned by the property,” the swimsuit prices.
She then allegedly “transferred the belongings” to herself, 4 others and two firms — who’re all listed as defendants on the case, the courtroom papers present.
As an alternative of accounting for the property and distributing the belongings, Pascaline used the cash to “fund defendants’ extravagant existence,” the swimsuit claims.
She allegedly used the money to pay for personal jets for private journey, holidays, jewellery, luxurious items and “houses for herself and her youngsters” and others, the lawsuit states.
Yamilee Bongo Astier and her daughter Sasha Bongo-Astier are suing for no less than $50 million. The mother-daughter duo introduced their case in Manhattan as they’re each residents of New York Metropolis.
“Plaintiff revered cultural custom and waited over a decade for an accounting of the property,” their lawyer, Kenneth Sussmane informed The Submit in an announcement. “Plaintiff introduced this motion reluctantly to convey closure to this painful matter.”
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba – who was thought to be a dictator and was the topic of a number of corruption probes – reportedly used Yamilee to funnel $2 million into New York banks as she was a Canadian citizen attending faculty within the Huge Apple, according to a report by the Globe and Mail, citing US Senate investigative findings.
Her legal professional mentioned that the “Senate inquiry discovered that there was no proof of any wrongdoing by Ms. Bongo-Astier or anybody else. Ms. Bongo-Astier went on to grow to be a US citizen.”
4 of the late ruler’s different youngsters – Grace, Betty, Arthur and Hermine Bongo – have been charged in France with embezzlement and corruption in April, Agence France-Presse reported.
His son Ali Bongo Ondimba has been president of Gabon since his father’s demise. He isn’t a celebration to the swimsuit.
Pascaline Bongo declined to remark. Her attorneys didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
