Simon Mann Simon Mann Simon Francis Mann (born 26 June 1952) is a former British Army officer and mercenary. He served part of a 34-year prison sentence in Equatorial Guinea for his role in a failed coup d'état in 2004, before receiving a presidential pardon on humanitarian grounds on 2 November 2009. Mann was extradited from Zimbabwe to Equatorial Guinea on 1 February 2008, having been accused of planning a "coup d'état" to overthrow the government by leading a mercenary force into the capital Malabo in an effort to overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Charges in South Africa of aiding a
Corruption in Equatorial Guinea riches of our nations into sustainable economic development for all, it is unfortunate to see the CAF and other institutions acting in complicity with the government of Equatorial Guinea to entrench corruption and bad governance," he said. Although U.S. law prohibits foreign official found to be involved in corruption and their families from receiving visas, U.S. State Department officials told the "New York Times" in 2009 that Equatorial Guinea's close relationship with the American oil industry led to lax enforcement of the law in Teodorin's case. John Bennett, former U.S. ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, stated that U.S. authorities had "turned