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
2004 Equatorial Guinea coup d'état attempt the report by email, also in December 2003, to their personal email addresses. The report named several major players arrested in March and now on trial for their involvement in the failed putsch. Smith said the group had hired two fishing trawlers to operate off the West African coast, despite the fact that all but one member of the group had no seagoing or fishing experience. The report concluded that the commercial fishing operation was a front for the movement of men and arms for a coup. The report also mentioned the group's connections with the Equatorial Guinea opposition leader