Obiang and Melchor Esono Edjo, the Big Money Laundering Case and the Judicial Corruption in Spain

Source: United States. Congress. Committee of Money Laundering and Foreign Corruption. APDHE Association for Human Rights Spain. University of Valencia Faculty of Law.

The money-laundering lawsuit alone should be tried first. We have tried to get information about the account Kalunga, but have received no answer for the moment. The absolute priority should be to get this information. Without it, neither the identity of other defendants, apart of Gabriel M. Obiang Lima and Melchor Esono Edjo, nor the eventual degree of responsibility of Banco Santander employees, or the Bank itself, can be determined. Gathering this information can be accomplished if the answer of the Prosecution Office is positive. Otherwise, the information should be available as soon as the lawsuit is admitted by the Judge. The content of the information must rule the next steps. Hopefully, the evidence gotten during the course of the investigation will allow other actions to be started.

The US Senate’s investigation into Riggs Bank revealed that an agency of Banco Santander in Madrid had received wire transfers from Equatorial Guinea’s official government account “Tesoreria General” in Riggs Bank in Washington, on behalf of Kalunga Company S.A. Wire transfers from that account could only be completed by order of President Obiang himself, and a second signature, which could belong to Gabriel M. Obiang Lima (Minister of Mines) or to Melchor Esono Edjo (Minister of Treasury). Sixteen successive wire transfers amounted to approximately US$ 26.5 million. Julia de Lucas Vallejo, representative of the Bank in Madrid, was requested by Riggs Bank to disclose information about Kalunga. Another representative of Banco Santander, Gloria Benson, in the Bank’s Hato Rey branch, in Puerto Rico, was requested by Riggs to disclose the same information. Both times, Banco Santander refused to provide information concerning Kalunga, invoking local bank secrecy laws.

In considering the potential for filing actions against individuals, we must consider sovereign immunity. Even though there is no duplicate of the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act in Spanish law, Spanish Courts tend to grant full immunity to foreign States and their goods and properties. However, if the goods or property in question have no link to the public service of the State, immunity does not apply. Additionally, individuals acting as Head of State, Secretary of State, Prime Minister and diplomats are also granted full immunity by the Courts while in function. In our case, President Obiang himself will enjoy full immunity; Gabriel M. Obiang Lima and Melchor Esono Edjo will have not immunity at all, and concerning the assets, it will depend of the origin and further application of the money.

For the case of money laundering being proposed, the defendants should be initially only Gabriel M. Obiang Lima (Equatoguinean Minister of Mines), Melchor Esono Edjo (Equatorial Guinea Minister of Treasury), the undisclosed holders of the account of Kalunga Co. S.A., and the company itself as civilly responsible, including any unidentified person who may have cooperated with the above mentioned defendants, and expressly excluding those who, according to domestic and/or international law, may enjoy immunity of jurisdiction before Spanish Courts.

Report and Documentation download (spanish and english):
https://revistas.uv.es/index.php/clinicajuridica/article/view/24919/pdf_2

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Compiled by: Jean-François Ghaiz - International Report