Top UN court rejects request by Equatorial Guinea to return seized Paris mansion

Equatorial Guinea has lost the latest round in a long-running battle with France over a Paris mansion valued at more than $100 million.  

The United Nation’s top court has rejected a request by Equatorial Guinea to force the return of a Paris mansion seized by France as part of a corruption investigation into the son of the African nation’s president.

Equatorial Guinea asked the court for a series of urgent orders, known as provisional measures, to return the swanky mansion on one of the French capital's most prestigious streets, Avenue Foch, and to prevent France from selling the building.

Presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa said on Friday that Equatorial Guinea “has not demonstrated” that it has a “plausible right to the return of the building.”

"For these reasons," Iwasawa said, "the court, by 13 votes to 2, rejected the request for the indication of provision measures submitted by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea on 3 July 2025.”

Lawyers for France strongly rejected the need for provisional measures, telling judges no sale was imminent and the dispute should be resolved via negotiation. The request “constitutes yet another abusive maneuver” by Equatorial Guinea, France’s agent, Diégo Colas, told the court during a hearing in July.

Embezzlement

Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue was convicted in 2017 for embezzling millions of dollars in public money and given a three-year suspended sentence. French authorities seized money, luxury vehicles and the building.

In 2020, the court ruled that the building, valued at more than $100 million, was a private residence, not a diplomatic outpost, rejecting a claim from Equatorial Guinea that the seizure violated international law.

Equatorial Guinea returned to The Hague in 2022, arguing that the French government was obliged to return the assets based on a UN anti-corruption convention.  

Malabo has accused Paris of adopting a “neo-colonial” and “paternalistic” attitude to the country, saying it couldn’t accept “such disdain for its sovereignty.”

Fifty-seven-year old Obiang has faced scrutiny for corruption in other countries as well.

In 2021, he was sanctioned by the United Kingdom for misappropriating public funds, including spending $275,000 on the bejeweled glove that Michael Jackson wore on his “Bad” tour.

Switzerland and Brazil have also opened investigations into his finances.

Despite its oil and gas riches, Equatorial Guinea has a dramatic gap between its privileged ruling class and much of the impoverished population. The former Spanish colony is run by Africa’s longest-serving president, Obiang’s father Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.