Haram district head remanded for 15 days over bribery accusations

CAIRO – 12 August 2018: A Giza judge ordered the remanding of Ibrahim Abdel Aaty, head of Giza’s al-Haram district, along with three people for another 15 days over bribery accusations.

Egyptian law enables the General Prosecution to remand defendants before trial to prevent them from escaping justice, spoiling evidence or influencing witnesses.

Abdel Aaty, head of Giza’s Al-Haram district and three officials from three construction companies were earlier detained for four days after security forces arrested them on Tuesday. Abdel Aaty is accused of receiving bribes from construction companies.

According to a preliminary investigation, Abdel Aaty negotiated with the three companies to receive a bribe consisting of three apartments, bank cheques besides an amount of money, according to the state-owned Al-Ahram. He received LE 700,000, according to the investigation.

Abdel Aaty was caught red-handed after the prosecution carried out legal procedures that allowed the police to record some of his negotiations with the companies, according to the investigation.

The district head received a bribe from the companies to halt legal procedures that had to be carried out against some of the buildings that violate the law in al-Haram district, according to the investigation. The form of violation was not yet known by Egypt Today.

The accused major general denied all accusations. The prosecution ordered obtaining Abdel Aaty’s voiceprint as he also denies the recordings.

The prosecution listened to the representatives of the three construction companies, and formally accused Abdel Aaty of receiving bribes, misusing his authority and deliberately failing to perform his duties.

The Administrative Control Authority (ACA) – the regulatory body responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies – has ordered the arrest of numerous officials over the last two years, within the framework of the leadership’s fight against corruption.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has always stressed on applying strict measures within the government institutions to crack down on any violations. He hailed the role played by the ACA in different occasions.

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Additional reporting by Amr Mohamed Kandil