Business tycoon Salem retrial sentence postponed

CAIRO – 16 May 2017: The Cairo Criminal Court decided Tuesday to postpone the sentencing session for Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem’s retrial for charges of squandering public funds by selling natural gas to Israel to May 18, local news outlets reported.

In March 2017, the Alexandria Criminal Court dropped a legal lawsuit against the business tycoon.

Salem was accused, alongside some members of his family and 11further individuals, with corruption.

The court decided to drop the case after Salem’s family decided to reconcile with the authorities and transfer 75 percent of his assets to the state.

In June 2012, Salem was sentenced to a 15 year imprisonment in absentia after being found guilty for profiting from the gas deal.

The defendant was found guilty of harming the interests of the country and squandering public funds by selling and exporting natural gas to Israel at below-market rates.

Salem, who fled to Spain after the January 25 revolution, started negotiations with the current authorities in 2015 to drop charges of corruption in return for repaying a fraction of funds he is suspected to have embezzled.