The Swiss government will be auctioning a collection of supercars in September worth more than $13 million that were seized from the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, who was facing various charges of corruption and money laundering.
The 25 vehicles allegedly belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of the African nation’s president who took power through a coup in 1979. They were first taken into custody in 2016 and his government unsuccessfully argued some of the cars didn’t belong to him, but rather a state company that had sent them to Geneva for repairs, according to a report from the World Bank’s Stolen Assets and Recovery Initiative. The cars were ultimately surrendered to settle the case.
Among the vehicles are one of only nine Lamborghini Veneno Roadsters ever built that was worth $4.5 million when new, a Ferrari LaFerrari valued at an estimated $2.5 million and a McLaren P1 expected to sell for over $1.5 million.
A spokesperson for Bonhams, the company handling the auction, said that all of the proceeds are earmarked for various charities to benefit the population of Equatorial Guinea.
The event is scheduled to take place September 29 in Geneva.
