The president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang, took power in 1979, in a coup in which he killed his uncle.

BBC: E Guinea seeks Thatcher's arrest

Five years ago a venerable American institution, Riggs Bank (where Abe Lincoln once banked), collapsed after a Senate inquiry revealed that Augusto Pinochet of Chile and Obiang Nguema, the long-serving president of Equatorial Guinea, had stashed millions in private accounts, with no proper questions asked.

ECONOMIST: Banks, graft and development: Dancing with despots | The