The wife of Gabon’s ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba has been charged with “money laundering” and other offences.
Sylvia Bongo was charged by an investigating judge on Thursday and ordered to remain under house arrest, Andre Patrick Roponat announced on state TV channels.
“A dozen compatriots were arrested and charged with criminal and misdemeanor offences, and some were remanded in custody. It was in this context that Madame Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin appeared before the examining magistrate on the 28th of September 2023.
“She was charged with money laundering, receiving stolen goods as well as forgery and fraud, all offences punishable under articles 116, 117, 312 and 380 of the Penal Code, before being placed under house arrest,” the prosecutor said.
Sylvia Bongo Valentin has been confined to her residence since her husband’s ousting on August 30.
The presidency previously stated that she was under house arrest in Libreville “for her safety.”
Her attorneys in France have argued that she is being held “arbitrarily” alongside her youngest son.
One of her lawyers disclosed earlier this month that she was being held “incommunicado without adherence to any legal framework.”
Ali Bongo, who had initially been placed under house arrest in Libreville following the coup, was later declared “free to travel” with the possibility of international travel.
Their son, Noureddin Bongo Valentin, is already facing charges of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, along with several former cabinet members and two former ministers.
Bongo, 64, who had ruled the central African country since 2009, was overthrown by military leaders, moments after being proclaimed the winner in a presidential election.
