At least a dozen Western companies—including some in the U.S.—were asked for millions of dollars in bribes or special favors by the forestry minister in the tiny West African nation of Equatorial Guinea, and some complied, according to a new filing by the U.S. Justice Department.

Meantime, Equatorial Guinea’s president was in Washington Friday for what a State Department spokesperson described as “an open and frank exchange” with an assistant secretary of state, congressional staffers and civil society groups who have long complained about rampant corruption in the country.

The ruling family of Equatorial Guinea, which is one of the largest oil producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa but whose citizens largely live in poverty, was profiled earlier this year in the CNBC Investigations Inc. documentary “Filthy Rich.”

Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mbasago, is the longest-serving head of state in Africa. His son and heir apparent, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue—also known as Teodorin—is the minister of forestry and infrastructure and a vice president in the Obiang government.

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