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| The vice-president is a collector of Michael Jackson memorabilia and luxury cars |
Equatorial Guinea's flamboyant
vice-president has gone trial in absentia in France on charges of
corruption after he failed to stop the landmark case.
A lawyer for Mr Obiang, the president's son, denies he is a "big-time bandit". The trial is the first since France started investigating African leaders accused of illegally acquiring wealth.
It comes after a nearly decade-long campaign by anti-corruption groups demanding that France act against leaders suspected of stashing their "ill-gotten gains" in Europe.
Mr Obiang's six-storey Paris villa, estimated to be worth more than $100m (£80m), is located on Avenue Foch, in one the most prestigious neighbourhoods of the French capital.
It boasts a cinema, spa, hair salon and taps covered in gold leaf, AFP news agency reports.
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"Believe me, Mr Nguema is not a big-time bandit. He just wants his rights observed," the Associated Press news agency quotes Mr Marsigny as saying.