Mann, 51, is accused of masterminding the Guinea coup plot. A wealthy member of the Watney brewing family, he set up Executive Outcomes, the “security” company that made a fortune protecting oil installations in Angola.
He was arrested at Harare airport in March and is facing 10 years in jail after being found guilty last Friday of attempting to buy arms in Zimbabwe. He said he was approached by Severo Moto, the exiled Guinean opposition leader, to stage the coup and sought financial backing from wealthy investors. His lawyers claim the confession was beaten out of him.
Sir Mark Thatcher
The son of Baroness Thatcher is being investigated on suspicion of financing the purchase of a military helicopter that was to be used in the coup attempt. He has protested his innocence. He would face up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. Equatorial Guinea wants to extradite him but is unlikely to succeed because it maintains the death penalty, which South Africa opposes.
Thatcher, 51, is a friend and neighbour of Mann in the plush Cape Town suburb of Constantia. Mann appealed for “Scratcher’s” help in a letter smuggled from a Zimbabwean prison earlier this year.
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Severo Moto
The leader of the Progress party, the largest of Equatorial Guinea’s opposition groups, Moto has lived for many years in Madrid where he styles himself president of a government in exile. He was arrested in Angola in 1997 and accused of preparing a previous attempted coup in his country. Moto was implicated by Mann, who said in his statement to the Zimbabwean authorities: “I met Severo Moto in Madrid. At this stage they asked me if I could help escort him home at a given moment while simultaneously there would an uprising of both military and civilians against Obiang.” Moto denies involvement.
Ely Calil
A Lebanese businessman, Calil, 58, made his fortune trading oil in Africa and now lives in a £12m house in Chelsea. He is accused in a High Court writ filed by President Obiang of being one of the main backers of the coup plot. A friend and financier of Moto, he is alleged to have introduced the Guinean exile to Mann, who wrote in a signed statement after his arrest: “Ely Calil asked me if I would like to meet Severo Moto.”
Calil denies involvement in the coup plot and claims his name was provided under torture. He is the father of the actor George Calil, from BBC1’s Holby City.
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Nick du Toit
A former South African special forces commander, du Toit, 48, has worked with Mann in the past at Executive Outcomes. He was arrested in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, last March along with 13 others and is suspected of being the leader of the coup’s advance party.
Facing the death penalty, he has turned state witness, denouncing Moto, implicating Calil and identifying Mann as the main organiser of the planned coup.
He said Mann had also arranged a meeting with Thatcher, who expressed interest in buying military helicopters for a mining operation in Sudan.
Greg Wales
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Wales, 54, has extensive business interests in Africa, including mine clearance in Somalia and consultancy work. The London-based businessman knows Calil and has acknowledged holding several meetings with Mann and Thatcher to discuss business ventures in Equatorial Guinea. In evidence to the Guinean court, du Toit has described a meeting with Wales and Mann in South Africa last January when the proposed coup was discussed. In a damages claim lodged by Obiang in the High Court, Wales is alleged to be one of the main backers of the plot. Wales denies involvement.