The International Court of Justice ICJ has ruled that France acted within its rights by seizing a multi-million-dollar Parisian mansion owned by Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President Teodoro Obiang Mangue.
Presiding ICJ judge Yuji Iwasawa announced on Friday that Equatorial Guinea had failed to demonstrate a plausible right to reclaim the property from French authorities.
The ruling follows a petition filed by Equatorial Guinea in July, seeking to block France from selling the US$118 million mansion located on the exclusive Avenue Fourche.
France, represented at the ICJ, stated that there were no immediate plans to sell the property and suggested that Paris and Malabo negotiate a resolution. Equatorial Guinea’s legal team, however, accused France of treating the African nation with disdain and violating its sovereignty.
The legal battle over the mansion dates back to 2008, when Obiang, then Equatorial Guinea’s agriculture minister, came under investigation for alleged embezzlement. In 2016, he was appointed vice president by his father, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, amid ongoing litigation in France.
France’s courts found that Vice President Obiang used his political position to misappropriate state funds from Equatorial Guinea and launder the proceeds in France. According to court findings, Obiang acquired a 101-room mansion, a fleet of luxury cars, designer clothes, and high-end watches through a network of companies. The mansion reportedly includes a cinema, large steam bath, and gold-plated water taps.
In July 2021, France’s top court ordered the mansion confiscated, ending more than a decade of litigation following lower court rulings that had declared the property illegally acquired. The French authorities also indicated that proceeds from any eventual sale should be repatriated to Equatorial Guinea for the benefit of its citizens.
Obiang has consistently protested the rulings, claiming France violated international law by seizing what he alleged was a building serving as Equatorial Guinea’s embassy. France countered that the property was solely Obiang’s residence, as the country’s embassy is located elsewhere in Paris.
Equatorial Guinea’s July 2025 ICJ petition requested emergency measures to halt the mansion’s potential sale and sought unhindered access to the property. Friday’s ICJ ruling rejecting these claims marks a setback for Malabo and adds further complexity to France–Equatorial Guinea relations over the asset.