The Bongo family ruled oil-rich Gabon for more than 50 years, leaving a legacy of widespread poverty and allegations of corruption that have attracted the scrutiny of international watchdogs and authorities from Paris to the Gabonese capital Libreville.
Now, using a fresh trail of corporate and real estate records, OCCRP has identified previously unknown assets belonging to another member of the Bongo family.
Fabrice Albert Andjoua Ondimba Bongo – the son of the late President Omar Bongo and judge Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo – acquired millions of dollars’ worth of Dubai real estate while serving as Gabon’s Director General of the Budget and Public Finances, reporters found.
After his half-brother Ali Bongo was ousted from the presidency by a military coup in 2023, Andjoua became Director General of Competition, Consumer Affairs, and Fraud Control under the transitional government – but was reportedly dismissed in September 2025 following public criticism that he was trying to manage the department remotely from Dubai.
Exactly how much Andjoua earned during his tenure in government remains unclear. Authorities in Gabon did not respond to a request for information asking for details of his official salary. However, a 2015 decree from Gabon’s state budget department reviewed by reporters indicates that even the highest-paid official with 30 years’ service would earn the equivalent of around $1,900 a month – a figure that stands in contrast to the millions poured into an extensive real estate portfolio.
The revelations coincide with a newly launched judicial inquiry in Luxembourg relating to Andjoua and a business partner.
According to Luxembourg’s justice department, a judicial inquiry was opened in May following a preliminary investigation launched on the basis of reports made by the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Registration and Land Administration Department.
The justice department did not provide details of specific allegations against Andjoua or his business partner but did tell reporters from OCCRP’s media partner Le Monde that the investigation is looking into allegations of forgery and the use of forged documents, failure to publish annual accounts, laundering of goods and property, aggravated tax fraud, and entry of inaccurate, incorrect, or out-of-date information in the Register of Beneficial Owners.
Reporters found that Andjoua had been involved in two Luxembourg-registered companies in recent years as they were analyzing a trove of Luxembourg company data.
The data identified Andjoua as the ultimate beneficial owner of a Luxembourg-registered company called Epila SCI, which he co-incorporated in 2022 and which is still listed as active today. Epila’s articles of association say its activities include “holding all types of real estate and motor vehicles” as well as “acquiring interests in all movable assets.”
The Luxembourg records also showed that Andjoua and a business partner acquired a company called Miura Racing SC in 2021 and renamed it Autoword SC. The firm’s stated activities included holding “movable and immovable property, securities, the private ownership and use of all motorized and non-motorized vehicles, and also making them available in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or abroad.”
Both firms were registered as a “société civile.” Reporters were unable to determine if the companies held any assets, as they are not legally required to file public financial statements. Authorities in Luxembourg did not comment on whether these two companies are subject of judicial investigation.
While Luxembourg transparency advocates noted that these structures are legal, they emphasized the need for increased oversight.
Bastian Schwind-Wagner from the non-profit Luxembourg for Transparency said he could not comment on Andjoua’s case specifically, but that in general companies owned by people with public roles or connections to power should face “enhanced scrutiny” from professional service providers and Luxembourg’s public register “because of the increased risks related to corruption, public procurement, sanctions, tax, and asset recovery.”
Owners of such companies “should be able to explain why Luxembourg was selected [as domicile], who ultimately controls the structure, the origin of the funds, and how the assets are managed,” Schwind-Wagner added.
Andjoua did not respond to multiple requests for comment sent to his email addresses, by text message, and via a lawyer representing a member of his family.
In May, two days after reporters contacted him with questions regarding the purpose of the Luxembourg companies, Andjoua and his business associate moved to dissolve Autoword according to filings to the business register.
But Andjoua’s paper trail extends far beyond the Luxembourg firms. Reporters discovered an extensive and until now unreported property portfolio, purchased while he worked for the Gabon government.
Dubai Properties and a Mansion in France
By the time of his death in 2009, Andjoua’s father Omar Bongo had amassed a fortune that reportedly included at least 183 cars, 39 luxury properties in France, and 66 bank accounts.
The enrichment of the Bongo family and their inner circle while in public office came against a backdrop of entrenched wealth inequality in Gabon, where more than a third of the population continues to live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
Eight of Andjoua’s half-siblings have been indicted in France, the National Financial Prosecutor’s office (PNF) told OCCRP. Although the PNF did not specify the charges faced by each individual, they said the case concerned allegedly receiving embezzled public funds and corruption. The PNF said that Andjoua was not under investigation as part of the case.
Lawyers for several of the Bongo children have over the years defended their clients and challenged the investigation in comments to media.
Known as the “ill-gotten gains” case, the criminal investigation has lasted over 15 years after being triggered by a civil complaint in 2008 against the ruling families of Gabon, Republic of Congo, and Equatorial Guinea by French NGO Sherpa, along with Transparency International, and Survie.
Sherpa said the goal of the campaign was to “secure the return of assets” allegedly stolen from the people of those countries, noting that value of the real estate outweighs the salaries of the heads of state and their relatives.
The PNF added prosecutors are yet to issue their final indictment in the long-running case, and then an investigating judge would rule whether the case should proceed to trial.
Against this backdrop of questions surrounding the Bongo family’s assets, reporters discovered Andjoua’s real estate investments in Dubai.
Andjoua was listed as the owner of 43 properties in Dubai according to leaked real estate data. All of those apartments had been bought between 2020 and 2023 – while he was director general of the state budget – for a total of around $15 million.
Of the 43 properties Andjoua bought, 28 were one- and two-bedroom apartments located in the same building – Sobha Creek Vistas Tower A which lies in the upmarket Meydan area of Dubai.
While Andjoua has since sold those apartments alongside several others, reporters confirmed that as of May he still owns 10 apartments in another building in the luxury residential community of Golf Town.
Reporters also found that a French real estate holding company named Nouo, set up by Andjoua and his mother Marie-Madeleine Mborantsuo, owns a sizable French property in the fashionable, artsy, and exclusive town of Bougival, on the outskirts of Paris.
Purchased in 2000, the property sits on a 754-square meter plot in an upscale gated community. Bougival is famous for being the inspiration for some of the most important Belle Epoque Impressionist painters — including Monet and Renoir, who both named paintings after the town — and located on the banks of the Seine.
Incorporation records show Mborantsuo contributed the equivalent in French francs of almost 590,000 euros to the company’s capital when it was set up in 2000. Andjoua — a student aged 24 at the time — provided the equivalent of 15 euros. He is listed in records as company director.
It’s unclear how much the property is worth today, but a similar neighboring house sold for over 1 million euros in December 2021, according to records from France’s official tax website.
Neither Mborantsuo nor Andjoua responded to requests for comment.
Mborantsuo has been under judicial investigation in France since 2014 on suspicion of “aggravated laundering of embezzlement of public funds.” The PNF said that investigation was ongoing but no charges had been filed. Andjoua is not under investigation in that case either, the PNF said.
Nicknamed 3M, Mborantsuo was the founding president of the Constitutional Court of Gabon and held that position for over 30 years. She was instrumental in ensuring the longevity of the Bongos’ reign: her court oversaw contested electoral results in 2009 and 2016, and sided both times with Ali Bongo. She had two children with late president Omar Bongo – Andjoua and a daughter Esther.
OCCRP and media partner Le Monde reported in 2024 that Mborantsuo owned more than $3 million of property in Dubai.
The World’s Fastest SUV
Beyond his United Arab Emirates and European real estate holdings, reporters found other traces of Andjoua’s business history – and a penchant for luxury cars.
Corporate records show Andjoua, his mother, and other family members were directors of a company in South Africa from 2006 to 2012. The company was briefly deregistered in 2011 for annual return non-compliance and was permanently deregistered in 2024 for the same reason.
A similar pattern emerged in Europe. Andjoua set up a Belgian company in 2023 which said it offered a wide range of services including importing and exporting cars and selling real estate. Again, the company has not filed any financial statements. He sold his shares in the company in May 2024.
Less than a year later, he opened a luxury car rental firm based in Las Vegas called More4LessExotics, which rents Ferraris, Bentleys, Mercedes, BMWs, and Lamborghinis for $1,000 to $2,000 a day in Miami, New York, Boston, or Los Angeles.
Andjoua and More4LessExotics did not respond to requests for comment.
More4LessExotics’ promotional video on its website shows high end cars speeding along coastal roads. Nevada business filings still list Andjoua as the company’s “managing member.”
Shipping records obtained by OCCRP suggest Andjoua himself has a taste for luxury vehicles: in October 2023 he had a Brabus GLE900 Rocket supercar delivered from Antwerp to Libreville.
Reporters traced shipping records which show the GLE900 Rocket was sent from the Belgian port two weeks before the coup in Gabon in August 2023, while Andjoua was still heading the state budget department. Brabus, a luxury car customization company, priced the Rocket series at more than $400,000.
Promotions of the car said only 25 were made and described it as the world’s fastest SUV.
Additional reporting by Eldiyar Arykbaev and Vincent Ng’ethe.
