Ex Menoufiya governor sentenced to 10 yrs, fined LE 58M on graft charges

CAIRO - 25 June 2019: The Cairo Criminal Court on Tuesday sentenced former Menoufiya governor Hisham Abdel Baset to 10 years in prison and fined him 58 million pounds on graft charges.

Head of the Illicit Gain Authority Adel Saeed had referred the former governor along with others to the criminal court over corruption and bribery.

The governor was accused of illicitly gaining 58 million pounds.

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

The ACA is the regulatory body responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies

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

The ACA 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 any violation. He hailed the role played by the ACA in different occasions.

MENA contributed to this report