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| The six-storey mansion is located in one of the most prestigious neighbourhoods in Paris |
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French
authorities have seized the Paris mansion of the son of Equatorial Guinea's
leader as part of a money-laundering probe, officials confirm.
Teodorin
Nguema Obiang Mangue is currently being sought on corruption charges.
His Paris
villa is thought to be worth between 100m (£79m: $124m) and 150m euros, the AFP
news agency reports.
Mr Obiang,
the 43-year-old son of President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mbasogo, denies any
wrongdoing.
Authorities
seized the six-storey property on July 19, a court official told the BBC.
The luxury
mansion is located on Avenue Foch in one the most prestigious neighbourhoods of
the French capital.
A week
earlier, Judge Roger Le Loire had issued an international search warrant after
Mr Obiang refused to be interviewed by magistrates on charges of corruption.
The
allegations were brought forward by anti-corruption group Transparency International. The organisation suspects Mr Obiang, as well his father and
several other African leaders, of using state assets to acquire property in
France.
'Judicial
immunity'
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| Teodorin Obiang is known for his lavish lifestyle |
Mr Obiang's
lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, told the AFP news agency in mid-July that he had not
been informed that any mandate for his client's arrest had been issued.
He added
that any such warrant would be a "non-event" due to Mr Obiang's
status.
"Mr
Obiang has judicial immunity as he is the vice-president of Equatorial Guinea
and therefore could not attend the summons," Mr Marsigny said.
Correspondents
say Mr Obiang, who serves as agriculture minister, is known for his lavish
lifestyle.
He recently
hit the headlines when he honoured his promise to pay his national football
team $1m (£641,000) for winning the opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations
which Equatorial Guinea co-hosted earlier this year.
In October
2011, the US government said it would seek to recover assets worth more $70m
from Mr Obiang. A month earlier, French police seized some fifteen luxury cars
belonging to Mr Obiang, including a Maserati, Aston Martin and Rolls Royce.
Equatorial
Guinea is one of Africa's largest oil exporters, but most of its 720,000-strong
population lives in poverty.
President
Obiang seized power from his uncle in 1979 and was re-elected last year with
95% of the vote.
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