Court sentences Helwan ex-governor to 5 years over bribery charges

CAIRO – 28 February 2018: Cairo Criminal Court ruled Tuesday to sentence former Helwan governor Hazem el-Qowaidi to five years in prison and a fine of L.E. 50,000 over receiving bribes during his office.

Qowaidi was arrested in 2017 by the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) over accusations of receiving a bribe to illegally transfer government-owned land in Maadi to a private company.

He was also accused of receiving a Mercedes worth L.E. 1 million in return for the illegal transfer of an 800 meter land plot in Southern Cairo to a car company.

Earlier this year, the ACA also announced the detention of Menoufia Governor Hesham Abdel Baset and two businessmen after the ACA managed to record phone calls by the governor proving he agreed to take L.E 2 million as a bribe in return for land licenses.

According to security sources, the governor was under the ACA surveillance during the last period until he was proven to be involved in a number of corruption cases.

The ACA referred the governor to the public prosecution for investigation.

According to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) of the graft watchdog Transparency International, Egypt ranked 117th in 2017 compared to 108 in 2016.