A collection of luxury supercars seized from the extravagant vice president of Equatorial Guinea as part of a corruption probe were auctioned in Switzerland on Sunday.
The sale – organized by London-based auction house Bonhams – saw 25 vehicles sold that once belonged to Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of the central African nation’s longtime leader.
Swiss authorities confiscated the luxury stash of vehicles from Obiang in 2016 after an investigation into money laundering. All the cars were sold without a reserve price and none had racked up more than just a few thousand miles
Among the set was a roadster version of the Lamborghini Veneno – one of just nine produced to celebrate the manufacturer’s 50th anniversary – sold for an eye-watering $8.3 million. It was originally estimated to be worth more than $5.1 million.
A limited edition LaFerrari was also auctioned for $2.2 million, while a 1,300-horsepower Koenigsegg One:1 – of which just seven were ever produced – fetched $4.6 million, double what what was expected.
Also in the collection was a McLaren P1 which sold for $1.1 million, an Aston Martin One-77 sold for $1.5 million and a Bugatti Veyron auctioned for $1.3 million.
All of the cars were “sold on behalf of the State of Geneva and the proceeds are going to charity,” Bonhams said in an email to CNN.
Geneva police seized the fleet from a cargo area in the city’s airport in 2016 after criminal proceedings were opened against Obiang.
As reported by Reuters, Swiss prosecutors announced in February that they had closed an inquiry into Obiang for money-laundering and misappropriation of public assets with the arrangement to sell the vehicles to fund programs in Equatorial Guinea.
According to the Swiss penal code, prosecutors can drop charges in instances like this if defendants offer compensation “and restores a situation that is in conformity with the law,” Agence France-Presse reported.
