Exotic cars owned by son of dictator fetch enormous sum

Landmark auction included a Bugatti Veyron, Aston Martin One-77 and a rare Lamborghini — one of only nine in the world.

A collection of exotic cars that once belonged to the son of an African dictator has fetched $40 million at auction.

Swiss police seized 25 supercars built by the likes of Bugatti, Ferrari and McLaren owned by Equatorial Guinea vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue. The vehicles went under the hammer in Geneva.

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo came to power in Equatorial Guinea, south of Nigeria, after a military coup in 1979.

Vice-president Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue has a passion for powerful machines. Photo: Instagram.

His son, who goes by the name of TeddyNguema on Instagram, is accused of misusing public funds to lead a lavish lifestyle in Europe and the US.

Transparency International chairman José Ugaz said in 2017 that the vice-president exhibited “levels of scandalous enrichment in a country where more than 70 per cent of the people live in extreme poverty”.

The star of Sunday’s auction was his 2014 Lamborghini Veneno Roadster, one of only nine made by the Italian marque.

The Veneno was custom-ordered by the disgraced government official. Photo: Fabrice Coffrini / AFP

Customised with the original owner’s initials on the front and doors, the car was sold with Equatorial Guinea registration papers in what Bonhams described as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.

It sold for $12.3 million, more than double the car’s original price of 3.3 million euros ($5.35m).

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (right) with a Koenigsegg in Dubai. Photo: Instagram

Other cars in the sale included a 2015 Koenigsegg One: 1 which sold for $6.85m, a bright yellow 2003 Ferrari Enzo which traded for $4.6m and a McLaren P1 which went under the hammer for $1.88m.

Proceeds from the auction are set to go to a charity benefiting citizens of Equatorial Guinea.

The auction featured exotics from the likes of Aston Martin, Ferrari, Bugatti and Koenigsegg. Photo: Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP.