6 accused of manipulating in wheat weigh estimated at LE 34M

CAIRO – 12 November 2017: President of the Administrative Prosecution Authority (APA) Counselor Feryal Hemida Kotb referred six defendants to a disciplinary trial after investigations confirmed that inventory agricultural count sheets were forged to market wheat in Beni Suef.

The examination committee reported to the APA that a loss was found in the local wheat supplies of storage facilities in 2016 at the industrial zone in 6th October City. The weight of the wheat supply was manipulated; causing a loss that amounts to LE 34 million ($1.9 million).

The Administrative Control Authority noted that they threatened the nutrition security of citizens.

The defendants are the current and the former members of the General Organization for Import and Export Control (GOEIC); a chemist at the GOEIC Technical Follow-up Department, a supply inspector at the Consumer Cooperation Department of the 6th of October Supply Department, an engineer at Imbaba Agricultural Department and a director of stores at Imbaba Agricultural Department.

Supply and Internal Trade Minister Ali Al-Moselhi said that the storage capacity for wheat in Egypt has reached 4.1 million tons, as the Egyptian Holding Company for Silos and Storage reported.

The private sector has a storage capacity that can hold up to 12.3 million tons, Moselhi added.

He further reiterated that the state seeks to ration local consumption to decrease wheat export rates by developing the smart card system, which ensures the delivery of subsidies to those deserving.

The minister also noted that the state works on increasing the land crops cultivated with strategic crops, according to a statement issued by the Supply Ministry on Wednesday.