A daughter of Gabon’s late President Omar Bongo has for years been siphoning money from her dad’s estate – blowing the cash on jewelry, luxury vacations and jaunts on yachts and private jets, a new $50 million lawsuit alleges.
The autocrat — who was the president of the oil-rich Central African country for 42 years — left behind hundreds of millions in his estate, which he bequeathed to 53 heirs when he died in 2009, according to the Manhattan Supreme Court suit.
But one of his daughters, Pascaline Mferri Bongo Ondimba, allegedly drafted a document making herself the executor, without consent from her dad or the other heirs, according to the suit filed Tuesday.
Yamilee Bongo Astier, another of the president’s 30 children, claims that her sister has allegedly been abusing her role as the executor to lie about the true size of the estate and to steal money for herself, the filing states.
Pascaline has refused to show the full will to the family and has told them the value of the estate is only $50 million instead of the true amount – which is hundreds of millions, the lawsuit alleges.
“Pascaline misrepresented to plaintiffs the nature of the assets in the estate, omitting valuable real property and other assets owned by the estate,” the suit charges.
She then allegedly “transferred the assets” to herself, four others and two companies — who are all listed as defendants on the case, the court papers show.
Instead of accounting for the estate and distributing the assets, Pascaline used the money to “fund defendants’ extravagant lifestyles,” the suit claims.
She allegedly used the cash to pay for private jets for personal travel, vacations, jewelry, luxury goods and “homes for herself and her children” and others, the lawsuit states.
Yamilee Bongo Astier and her daughter Sasha Bongo-Astier are suing for at least $50 million. The mother-daughter duo brought their case in Manhattan as they are both residents of New York City.
“Plaintiff respected cultural tradition and waited over a decade for an accounting of the estate,” their lawyer, Kenneth Sussmane told The Post in a statement. “Plaintiff brought this action reluctantly to bring closure to this painful matter.”
El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba – who was regarded as a dictator and was the subject of multiple corruption probes – reportedly used Yamilee to funnel $2 million into New York banks as she was a Canadian citizen attending college in the Big Apple, according to a report by the Globe and Mail, citing US Senate investigative findings.
Her attorney said that the “Senate inquiry found that there was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Ms. Bongo-Astier or anyone else. Ms. Bongo-Astier went on to become a US citizen.”
Four of the late ruler’s other children – Grace, Betty, Arthur and Hermine Bongo – were charged in France with embezzlement and corruption in April, Agence France-Presse reported.
His son Ali Bongo Ondimba has been president of Gabon since his father’s death. He is not a party to the suit.
Pascaline Bongo declined to comment. Her lawyers didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
