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| Mr Obiang has been known to share his flamboyant lifestyle on social media |
Authorities in Brazil have seized
more than $16m (£12m) worth of cash and luxury watches from a delegation
accompanying Teodorin Nguema Obiang, vice-president of Equatorial
Guinea, local media report.
The 48-year-old, known for his lavish taste, is the son of the oil-rich Central African country's president.
Brazil limits people from entering the country with more than $2,400 in cash.
About 76% of Equatorial Guinea's 1.2m population live in poverty.
President
Teodoro Obiang Nguema, who is Africa's longest-serving leader, and his
son, have been accused of misusing the country's oil revenue. They both
deny any wrongdoing.
Human rights groups have also accused the president of systematic repression of opponents.
The Equatorial Guinea embassy in Brazil reportedly told police that Mr Obiang was in the country for medical treatment.
What was the money for?
The
11-man entourage - travelling on a government plane - landed in
Viracopos International Airport in Campinas in Sao Paulo on Friday,
according to media reports.
Police found $1.5m in cash
and watches worth an estimated $15m in two bags, the other 17 bags had
clothes, says local news site Globo.
Global reports that
Equatorial Guinea's embassy told the Brazilian police in a statement
that the money was for Mr Obiang's use on an onward trip to Singapore,
while the watches - engraved with his initials - were for his personal
use.
Brazil's foreign ministry told news agency AFP that it was
"in permanent coordination with the federal police and the customs
service over the case and to decide what measures should be taken".
Mr
Obiang was the only member of the delegation who had diplomatic
immunity as the group was not on an official mission, Globo reports.
Police searched other delegation members as Mr Obiang waited outside in a car, it added.
Who is Teodorin Nguema Obiang?
Last year The Economist reported on Mr Obiang's flashy lifestyle in a report titled Instagram playboy is also the vice-president of Equatorial Guinea.
It featured pictures of the vice-president showing off his expensive cars and mansions.
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| Switzerland seized 11 luxury cars belonging to Mr Obiang last year |
In 2017, a French court handed him a three-year suspended jail term for corruption.
The
court ruled his assets in France be seized, including a mansion on
Avenue Foch in Paris. He also got a suspended fine of 30m euro (£27m;
$35m).
In the same year Swiss prosecutors seized 11 luxury cars belonging to Mr Obiang. They said he had plundered his country's oil wealth to buy luxuries, including a private jet and Michael Jackson memorabilia.
In
2015, Mr Obiang reportedly paid a samba dance group some $3.5m to adopt
an Equatorial Guinea theme during Brazil's annual carnival.
A
spokesperson for the Beija-Flor samba group denied that they had
received the money but said it had received "cultural and artistic
support", the UK Guardian reported.
More about Equatorial Guinea:
- Population: 1.2 million
- Rich in oil and gas
- About 76% of the population live in poverty
- President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, 76, seized power from his uncle in a 1979 coup
- The capital, Malabo, is on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, 235km (147 miles) from mainland
- Building a new city in the rainforest called Djibloho, a "city of the future"
- Africa's only Spanish-speaking country
UN, World Bank
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