They call it the Revolutionary Tax

The Justice Department memorandum, dated Sept. 4, 2007, and obtained by The New York Times, said the government believes Mr. Obiang’s assets are derived “from extortion, theft of public funds or other corrupt conduct.” From April 2005 to April 2006, the memo said, Mr. Obiang funneled at least $73 million into the United States, using shell corporations and offshore bank accounts to launder the money and ultimately buy his Malibu estate and a luxury jet.

The memo identified several specific wire transfers by Mr. Obiang from 2005 and 2006, beginning with a bank in Equatorial Guinea, then going to the central Banque de France, and landing in American accounts at Wachovia, Bank of America and UBS. In one six-week period alone in 2006, Mr. Obiang transferred $33,799,799.99 to the United States, the memo said, which was used to purchase a Gulfstream V jet.

Part of his wealth, the memo said, comes from a “revolutionary tax” that Mr. Obiang placed on timber. Instead of sending the payments to the coffers of Equatorial Guinea, Mr. Obiang, who is considered likely to be a successor to his father, has “insisted that the payments be made directly to him,” the memo said.

-U.S. Door Stays Open in Face of Swirl of Corruption