10 Years in prison, LE 15M fine handed to former Monufia Governor

CAIRO - 12 November 2018: A judicial court in Giza sentenced the former Monufia Governer, Hesham Abdel Baset on Monday to 10 years in prison and ordered him to pay a fine of LE 15 million. The two other defendants were found not guilty and had the money confiscated from them returned.

The three accused men were charged for taking bribes worth LE 27 million, LE 450,000 of which were form an entrepreneur in exchange for implementing a set of projects under the government’s supervision.

Monufia Governor Hesham Abdel Baset and two businessmen were arrested on January 2018 after the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) managed to record phone calls by the governor, proving he agreed to take LE 2 million as a bribe in return for land licenses.

According to security sources, the governor was under the ACA’s surveillance during the past period until he was detected to be involved in a number of corruption cases. The ACA then referred the governor to public prosecution for investigation.