Retrial of former governor for embezzlement of LE 58.8M

CAIRO - 5 December 2018: The Illegal Earning Agency referred former Menoufeya Governor Hesham Abdel Baset to Cairo Criminal Court for retrial over power abuse, and embezzlement of LE58.8 million ($3.3 million) for himself and others.

In November, Cairo Criminal Court sentenced Abdel Baset to 10 years in prison and a fine of LE15 million. The second and third defendants were exempted from penalty after the embezzled money was confiscated. The Court of Appeal set the retrial date to be on January 5.

The former governor received LE27.5 million as he made a tender to establish a number of buildings, and later, directly assigned adeal worth LE92 million to one of the other convicts, while the real value of the deal was LE12 billion. Abdel Baset, who got arrested in January, is also involved in money laundering, using the money to buy real estate and cars for himself and his family members.