The family of Congolese President Denis Sassou-Nguesso has 112 French bank accounts, often worth hundreds of thousands of Euros each, and which allegedly paid for 91 suits from a single tailor. The Bongo clan of Gabon owns real estate totaling some 21 million Euros, most of it in the ritzy Golden Triangle section of Paris. The Obiang family from the tiny West African nation of Equatorial Guinea recently had 5 million Euros worth of cars seized in what many hope is just the first in a wave of confiscations. Given the poverty of these nations, many contend that these properties could not have been honestly acquired. Parisian authorities were first notified 12 years ago about the suspect financial moves, but the case went nowhere. It's the latest "Franceafrique" scandal for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who promised to end the bribe-taking and influence-peddling which have defined France's post-colonial era. Resistance to transparency and accountability is a survival in ruling cla! sses around the world, but the anti-corruption community is watching the French case closely and hoping to see a radical shift from co-conspirator to prosecutor. French judges are finally opening the lid on the embezzlement, money laundering and privileged relations between France and the current leaders of their former African colonies. The revelations are staggering. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Some other leaders are: 1- Pre
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