2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt five calls to Sir Mark Thatcher in the days after the failed coup. On 13 January 2005, Mark Thatcher, in a South African court, pleaded guilty to helping finance a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. South African police were able to prove that Mr Thatcher had transferred about US$285,000 to the mercenaries that were to execute the operation and had met and talked frequently to them prior to the coup attempt. After pleading guilty, he was given a four-year suspended sentence and a fine of about US$560,000. Simon Mann paid $500,000 (£281,000) towards the plot, according to a list of
Corruption in Equatorial Guinea are serious tensions within the group, with considerable competition for power and favors. Between 1995 and 2004, much of the money extorted from the people of Equatorial Guinea by the Nguema/Mongomo group was deposited in Riggs Bank in Washington, D.C. According to Human Rights Watch, Riggs had been aware of the level of corruption and human rights concerns in the country. A 2004 U.S. Senate probe determined that Equatorial Guinea's oil-revenues account at Riggs Bank was controlled by three persons: President Obiang, Africa's longest-serving dictator; his son Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima (who is minister of mines); and his nephew, Melchor