Equatorial Guinea Obiang Mangue, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces. The tension may be rooted in a power shift arising from the dramatic increase in oil production which has occurred since 1997. In 2004 a plane load of suspected mercenaries was intercepted in Zimbabwe while allegedly on the way to overthrow Obiang. A November 2004 report named Mark Thatcher as a financial backer of the 2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt organized by Simon Mann. Various accounts also named the United Kingdom's MI6, the United States' CIA, and Spain as tacit supporters of the coup attempt. Nevertheless,
Corruption in Equatorial Guinea other institutions in the name of Kalumga Company. In three civil cases, the first of which was filed in 2011, the U.S. Justice Department accused Teodorin, whose official annual salary is about $100,000, of buying a long list of expensive items with money stolen from Equatorial Guinea. A former employee of Teodorin's told investigators that Teodorin had a habit of travelling with Louis Vuitton rolling suitcases stuffed with sometimes $1 million in cash. In an October 2014 settlement, filed in a Los Angeles district court, Teodorin gave the U.S. government less than half of what it wanted, including his Malibu