Former Egyptian housing minister found guilty of illegal land deal

Maghrabi is one of a number of foreign ministers investigated for corruption

An Egyptian court sentenced the former housing minister to five years in prison for involvement in an illegal land deal on Thursday 26th May.
 

Ahmed Maghrabi was found guilty of wasting public funds and helping a businessman buy seven hectares of state land at below-market prices.

The businessman, Mounir Ghabbour, received a one-year suspended sentence for his role in the deal.

The court ordered the two men to repay a total of US$12.6 million and fined them the same amount.

Maghrabi is the third minister of former ruler Hosni Mubarak to have been convicted for corruption since the regime collapsed in the face of mass protests in February.

Mubarak's interior minister Habib ElAdly and tourism minister Zuheir Garrana have both been jailed.

Numerous government officials under the Mubarak regime amassed large personal fortunes; their prosecution was one of the key demands of the protestors.

Mubarak and his family are currently being investigated for corruption. Additionally, Egypt's chief prosecutor said Tuesday 24th May that Mubarak and two of his sons will be charged with ordering the killings of anti-government activists during the February protests.

Mubarak could face the death penalty if found guilty.

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Canada worst in G7 on anti corruption enforcement

Huguette Labelle said a large number of OECD countries have insufficient anti bribery enforcement

Canada is the worst in G7 when it comes to cracking down on corruption, according to a report released by Transparency International (TI) on 24th May.

The report, entitled “TI Progress Report on Enforcement of the OECD Convention”, put Canada in the group of countries with “little or no enforcement” of bribery standards sets up by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Canada is the only G7 country that has been stuck at the bottom of bribery-fighting rankings since TI began its annual report in 2005.

The report, which covers 37 countries, says there there are only seven countries with active enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. There are nine with moderate enforcement and 21 with little to no enforcement.

The seven countries that are actively enforcing are Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

This is the first time in the seven years the report has been published that no progress has been made in the number of countries enforcing the Convention.

“Unless there is strong political will to take this on as an important issue, Canada and other countries that are laggards will remain behind,” said Huguette Labelle, the chair of TI and a former Canadian minister.

TI's criticism echoed a report published by the OECD last March which raised “significant concerns” about Canada's “problematic” anti-bribery efforts.

Canada's main legislation on foreign corruption, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, became law 1998, but since then, there has only been one conviction.

The US, on the other hand, has prosecuted more than 200 companies and individuals under its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The TI report highlighted a number of glaring flaws in Canada's anti-bribery laws, most importantly a lack of power for authorities to go after Canadian individuals and companies abroad. TI also warned that the RCMP's Anti-Corruption Unit had inadequate resources.

Canada is one of a number of countries that explicitly permits 'facilitation payments', and there are no strict rules for maintaining 'accurate books and records'.

While Canada is regarded as one of the least corrupt countries in the world – it was ranked sixth best in the world in TI's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index – one should not assume that there is no corruption taking place.

Canada risks developing a reputation as not being tough enough on stopping corruption and bribery by businesses and individuals working overseas, especially in light of the positive steps many other countries are taking.

Sources: Globe & Mail, Ottawa Citizen, The Mark News, Transparency International

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

German court drops case against Siemens executive

Ganswindt was ordered to pay US$250,000

A German court dropped its case on Thursday 19th May against the most senior executive to stand trial over the Siemens AG corruption scandal.

Former executive board member Thomas Ganswindt saw his case dropped for insufficient evidence. He had been charged with tax evasion and failure to perform supervisory duty.

Ganswindt denied any wrongdoing, saying, “There have always been suspicions, but during my time at Siemens, I didn't learn about one real and concrete case of bribery.”

His team is at the centre of the scandal regarding the payment of bribes to secure contracts on a global scale.

He was also accused of tax evasion, as the bribes were accounted for as consultancy costs, which were subsequently tax-deductible, according to Lexology.

Ganswindt was, however, ordered to pay US$250,000 as a condition of having the case dropped, AFP reported.

Siemens became embroiled in one of the largest corporate corruption scandals in history. It settled with US and German authorities in 2008, and agreed to pay fines of US$1.6 billion in each country.

Several other comapny executives settled their cases last year. Former chairman and chief executive Heinrich von Pierer settled out of court for €5 million.

Sources: AFP, Lexology, WSJ

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Economic downturn affects anti corruption efforts

Just over half of employees at large European companies are aware that their company has an anti corruption policy, according to findings from a new survey by Ernst & Young.

The results of the survey, which was made up of interview results from 2,365 people across 25 European countries, shows that companies still have a lot of work to do in their anti corruption and anti fraud efforts.

The survey also reflected the hardships that companies have faced as a result of the economic turndown, with 60 per cent of respondents saying that cost-cutting was a major challenge.

Sixty-four per cent of respondents expect more companies to get into financial difficulties in the next year, which means non-revenue generating departments, such as Internal Audit and Compliance, are likely to get squeezed.

Results show that ethical expectations have not improved at many companies. Top management agreed that they would cut corners to hit targets, and over a third of employees consider it acceptable to pay bribes to win or retain business.

"Complacency about fraud, bribery and corruption, combined with cost cutting initiatives at many companies, creates additional exposure," said David Stulb, who leads Ernst & Young's global fraud investigation & disputes services.

Two-thirds of respondents said they thought corruption was widespread in their country, and 40 per cent said it had gotten worse since the economic downtown.

Despite this, there was complacency when it came to their own sector, with three quarters saying they didn't think it was a major problem in their industry.

This suggests a 'corruption perception gap' according to Ernst & Young, which means there is a real risk that unethical behaviour will go unchallenged.

Previous studies have shown that many companies are not prepared for the UK Bribery Act, which will come into effect on 1st July, 2011.

The Act has introduced a new offence of failure to prevent bribery, which means companies and their senior management can be held responsible if employees, subsidiaries or 'associated persons' offer bribes.

Despite this, only 26 per cent of UK employees and less than 20 per cent of staff in France and German had received anti bribery training. Over a quarter said they did not trust their management to behave ethically.

The study found that Greek and Russian staff were the most likely to offer cash bribes, with France and Norway the least likely.

Sources: Ernst & Young, Recruiter.co.uk, Reuters

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

The findings, released on Wednesday 18th May, found that only a third of people who were aware of their company's policy thought it contained clear guidance.

Hosni Mubarak's wife to hand over assets

Suzanna Mubarak is currently being detained in Sharm el-Sheikh

The wife of ousted Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, has agreed to hand over US$3 million worth of assets to the State following an investigation over corruption charges.

Suzanne Mubarak has reportedly agreed to give up funds held in various bank accounts and a villa in Cairo.

The Mubarak family is under investigation for corruption and illegal acquisition of wealth during Hosni Mubarak's 30 year reign. The former president, who stepped down on 11th February, has also been accused of ordering the killings of anti-government protesters.

On Monday 16th May, the former first lady, aged 70, promised to hand over both the money and the villa to the authorities. According to expert lawyer, Nasser Amin, by relinquishing her claims, she would be benefit from articles in the Egyptian law which allow those accused of making illegal gains to give them up in exchange for dropping the investigation.

“The decision may not be accepted by society, who after a revolution, side with the idea of revenge. But from the legal point of view, this is in line,” Amin said.

Both Hosni Mubarak and his wife are currently under detention in a hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The former first lady is recovering from a "panic attack", which she suffered after being detained.

Sources: BBC News, AFP, Reuters Africa, RIA Novosti

India ratifies UN Convention Against Corrruption

Manmohan Singh's government has been hit by a number of corruption scandals recently

India has ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced on Thursday 12th May.

The move will help the Singh government deflect criticism that it is soft on corruption, after being rocked by a number of scandals in recent months.

"The ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption is a reaffirmation of our government's commitment to fight corruption and to undertake vigorously administrative and legal reforms to enable our law-enforcement agencies to recover the illicit assets stolen by corrupt practices," Singh said in a statement on Thursday morning.

The convention, which is legally binding, was adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on 31st October 2003, by Resolution 58/4. It entered into force on 14th December, 2005 after being ratified by 30 states. It has now been signed by 140 states.

India signed the convention in December 2005, and according to Singh, has been considering ratification since September 2010, when a group of ministers was appointed to oversee it.

Before ratifying the convention, the government had to amend domestic laws to bring about greater transparency in funding election campaigns and political parties, as well as other legislative steps to bring it into line with the convention's requirements.

The convention sets out ways for countries to prevent and criminalise corruption, and it requires countries to return assets obtained through corruption to the state they came from.

It also prescribes disciplinary and other measures against public officials who violate established standards.

Some of the world's largest economies, including Germany and Japan, have yet to ratify the convention.

Sources: The Hindu, Times of India, Wall Street Journal

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Egypt's former tourism minister jailed for squandering public funds

Zoheir Garranah handed out tourism licenses illegally

Egypt's former tourism minister, Zoheir Garranah, has been sentenced to five years in prison for squandering public funds.

The country's criminal court also issued Garranah with a fine after finding the official guilty of allotting tourism licenses illegally.

Garranah is the second official to be given time in prison. The first, former interior minister Habib Al-Adly, was sentenced last week to 12 years after being found guilty of money laundering and profiteering.

News of the sentencing comes amid ongoing investigations of former government officials who had served under ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

Last week, Egyptian authorities announced that Mubarak himself would face the death penalty if found guilty of ordering the shooting of protesters during the uprisings that brought him down.

It is estimated that at least 800 protesters were killed during the demonstrations which led to Mubarak's resignation on 11th February.

Sources: BBC News, AFP, Ha'aretz, Voice of America

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Serbian pop star fined €1.5m for embezzling €2.3m

Ceca is one of Serbia's biggest celebrities

A Serbian pop star, who pleaded guilty to embezzling €2.3million was fined €1.5million on 9th May, in a case which critics say shows that some are more equal than others before the law in Serbia.

Svetlana Ražnatovic, better known by her stage name Ceca, was indicted in March for embezzling funds from the transfer of plays from the Serbian football club Obilic.

Ceca gaind ownership of the club in 2000 after the death of her husband Željko Ražnatovic (aka Arkan), described by The Guardian as a gangster and warlord.

Ceca gained fame in the 1990s with her patriotic folk tunes set to a techno beat. She married Arkan, who is suspected of having committed war crimes during the 1991-1995 war that followed the collapse of Yugoslavia, and the two became one of the country's most prominent couple.

Arkan owned the first division team Obilic, which at one point was considered a European contender, but has now fallen out of the first division. Ceca took over the team after Arkan was gunned down by rival gang members in the lobby of an upscale Belgrade hotel.

Ceca and her sister Lidija Velickovic Ocokoljic pleaded guilty to selling players to foreign clubs, without paying taxes on the profits or even declaring the deals through the club.

Critics are mystified by the outcome, which leaves Ceca with a profit of €800,000 of embezzled money. Her crime had a maximum jail sentence of 12 years, but she was simply given eight months house arrest.

Belgrade-based human rights activist Marko Karadzic was quoted by Reuters as saying the plea bargain was "an insult to common sense and justice".

Similarly, The Guardian quoted Belgrade lawyer Slobodan Beljanski as saying "A bad message has been sent to the public, that we are all not equal before the law."

The judge Sladiana Markovic said the plea bargain was aimed at preventing a long trial and that she took into consideration Ceca's good character.

"Raznatovic is a single mom ... Her sister is a family woman, the Obilic club did not file charges and the two did not commit any crimes since 2002, a testimony to their good character," Markovic said.

Ceca will also be banned for one year from holding concerts.

Sources: The Guardian, Reuters, Andkronos News

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Swiss banks release details on Gbagbo's frozen assets

Laurent Gbagbo was arrested in April

The Swiss government has said they have frozen assets worth US$81million linked to former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo.

The government ordered the freeze in January, after Gbagbo refused to cede power despite losing the presidential election to Alassane Ouattara.

Cote d'Ivoire must prove Gbagbo's assets were gained criminally in order to reclaim them.

Some 3000 people were killed in four months of fighting and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

In early December 2010, the Ivory Coast Election Commission (CEI) declared Ouattara the winner of the presidential election. However the Constitutional Court, headed by Paul Yao N'Dre, a Gbagbo ally, annulled thousands of votes cast in favour of Ouattara because of alleged fraud, and declared Gbagbo the winner.

The international community rejected the fraud allegations and recognised Ouattara as the rightful winner.

Gbagbo was arrested in April and he is currently being investigated for alleged human rights abuses.

The Swiss government said earlier this week that it had frozen about US$1 billion in assets linked to former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, former Tunisian president Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali, and Libyan leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi.

Sources: BBC News, WSJ, GlobalGeopolitics

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Sonatrach's former CEO jailed for embezzlement of public funds

Mohamed Meziane was sentenced to two years in prison

The former CEO of Algeria's national oil company Sonatrach has been sentenced to two years in prison - one of which was suspended - and ordered to pay a fine of around US$7,000, for embezzlement of public funds.
 
Mohamed Meziane was suspended from his job in January 2010 while being investigated for corruption.

Several other top Sonatrach officials were also investigated and later fired along with Meziane. Four other defendants in the case, including Abdelhafid Feghouli, Benamar Touati, Mekki Henni and Nechnech Tidjini, were also sentenced to one year in jail. All five men pleaded not guilty.

Meziane was appointed in September 2003 to oversee the running of Algeria's biggest firm. Sonatrach employs 125,000 people and had an annual turnover in 2008 of $80.8 billion.

The ruling came amid rising unrest over lack of progress with reforms as promised by Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika. 


Sources: WSJ, AFP, Bloomberg, Reuters

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Former Egyptian interior minister jailed for corruption

Habib Al-Adly's security forces were hated for their abuses

Egypt's former interior minister Habib Al-Adly was sentenced to 12 years in jail on charges of money-laundering and profiteering on Thursday, 5th May.

Al-Adly is the first senior official from the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak to be tried. He pleaded not guilty to charges of money-laundering and illicitly enriching himself while in office, but was convicted of both. 

Al-Adly ran Mubarak's security services for more than a decade and was despised for abuses committed by his security agents, according to AFP. Under his rule, torture was routine and police officers were seldom tried for abuses of power. 

Mubarak was forced to resign from power in February after 18 days of demonstrations. Al-Adly's police forces were a particular target for demonstrators during the first days of the protests, a sign of how they were perceived by the populace. 

The charges that Al-Adly was convicted of related to the sale of land, which he owned, but tasked the police with finding a buyer for. He was given seven years for profiteering and five years for money-laundering. He was also fined 15 million Egyptian pounds (US$2 million).

He also faces a second trial on charges of ordering police to shoot protestors, and a third over a deal with a German firm to supply Egypt with licence plates at inflated prices. 

Former president Mubarak is also under investigation for corruption and for involvement in the killing of anti-regime protestors. Both al-Adly and Mubarak could face the death penalty if convicted of the latter charge. 

An official inquiry into deaths during the revolt of January and February found that at least 846 civilians were killed. Most of them were shot in the head and chest, indicating the use of snipers. 

Much of the former regime's leadership are now behind bars, most of them on suspicion or charges of corruption. Mubarak's two sons Gamal and Alaa are currently in prison, while Mubarak is being detained in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, after allegedly suffering a heart attack.

Sources: AFP, BBC, Menas Associates 

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Maersk announces support for EITI

Maersk Oil announced on 4th May that it will support the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) as part of its transparency and anti corruption activities.

The EITI, established in 2002, is a global effort to promote revenue transparency at the national level through full public reporting of company payments and government revenues. It intends to strengthen governance through ensuring transparency of the revenues governments receive from the extractive industries.

Over 50 of the worlds largest oil, gas and mining companies already support the EITI. To become an EITI supporter, a company must declare their support publically and help to promote the initiative internationally and in the countries where they operate.

While the EITI does not require specific actions from supporting companies, it is an important declaration of their commitment to transparency.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and strive to develop good relations with stakeholders also in the countries in which we operate. Our support of the EITI confirms this approach,” Maersk Oil's Chief Financial Officer Kenny Murdoch said in the Maersk press release.

“We believe our support of the EITI will send a strong signal that we are an open company that conducts business in an equitable and upright manner,” Murdoch said.

11 countries have achieved Compliant status, and 24 others have Candidate status. Cameroon currently has Candidate status, but the country's Minister of Finance Essimi Menye said on Wednesday, 4th May, that they were committed to gaining full membership.

An EITI delegation visited Cameroon to encourage it to meet transparency requirements, especially in the mining and oil sectors, so that it can be considered for full membership at the EITI's next meeting in June.

The delegation, lead by EITI envoy Tim Bittinger asked Cameroon to do more extensive "publication of data on its extractive industries."

Menya said that Cameroon had already published three reports since joining the EITI in 2005, but acknowledged that there had been some discrepancies in them.

Transparency International ranked Cameroon 146 out of 178 countries in 2010 in its Corruption Perceptions Index, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Sources: EITI, Fox Business, Maersk Oil, Transparency International

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Investigations continue into Indian Commonwealth Games Chairman

Suresh Kalmadi was Chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee

Sacked Commonwealth Games Chairman Suresh Kalmadi was remanded on 4th May as investigations into corruption continue.

Kalmadi was originally arrested on 25th April, charged with conspiracy in the awarding of commercial contracts for the Games.

A Delhi court also sent two others to judicial custody until May 18th after India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that important witnesses had yet to be examined.

The Commonwealth Games, which were held in October 2010, were marred by allegations of corruption and incompetence. Photographs that appeared in the media just weeks before the Games started showed the athletes accomodation to be filthy, and an arena footbridge collapsed, injuring dozens.

The Games, which eventually cost India US$6 billion, ran hugely over budget, and it has been suggested that up to US$1.8 billion of Games money was misappropriated.

Soon after the Games were finished, Kalmadi, who was also a Congress Party MP for Pune, resigned from his post in the party. In January, he, and the Games Secretary General Lalit Bhanot were sacked. In April, Kalmadi was arrested for allegedly awarding illegal contracts to a Swiss firm for a Timing-Scoring-Result (TSR) system.

According to the CBI, the committee for short-listing prospective bidders was handpicked, and the contract that was eventually agreed to was done so at an 'inflated cost'.

The CBI said officials in Kalmadi's organizing committee “conspired with representatives of the private firm in Switzerland, and the contract for timing, scoring and results was awarded by wrongfully restricting and eliminating competition from other suppliers in a premeditated and planned manner.”

There is also an investigation into contracts awarded at a 2009 event in London which marked the start of a baton race across Commonwealth countries.

Kalmadi's case is one of a series of corruption scandals that has hit India in recent months, and threatened the reputation of Prime Minister Monmohan Singh.

On 25th April, the CBI charged the daughter of one of Singh's major allies with working to receive kickbacks from a 2008 sale of mobile phone licenses.

Kanimozhi, who goes by one name, is an MP, and daughter of Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi. Karunanidhi is also head of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party, which is in coalition with Singh's Congress party.

The mobile phone investigation has become known as the 2G spectrum scam, and is related to the sale of mobile phone licenses in 2008 at 2001 prices.

The former telecommunications minister Andimuthu Raja, two ministry officials and six company executives are already facing charges for having entered into a conspiracy to award the phone permits to ineligible companies. A second group of co-conspirators was recently named, including Kanimozhi. She is expected in court on 6th May.

India's chief auditor reported shortly after the Games ended that mobile-phone airwaves were sold for an 'unbelievably low' price: perhaps a tenth of their value. He put the potential loss to government income at about US$31 billion.

Many believe that corruption is holding India's growth back. Speaking on 3rd May, executive director of KPMG India, Shashank Karnad said India was on the cusp of high economic growth, but that it was being held back by large-scale fraud. A December 2010 report by JP Morgan said investors in Indian shares consider corruption as much of a barrier to economic progress as inflation.

Sources: BBC News, Bloomberg, IndiaInfoLine, The Hindu Times, The Times of India

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Swiss banks freeze North African leaders' assets

Switzerland has frozen about US$1 billion in assets belonging to people connected to the leaders of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia as of Monday 2nd May, according to the country's foreign minister.

Tunisia's Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak resigned following nationwide demonstrations in January and February this year respectively. Libya's Mu'ammar Qadhafi is currently facing a rebellion, but has so far remained in power. All three leaders amassed large personal fortunes during their decades in power, but Switzerland's announcement provides crucial insight into the magnitude of their wealth.

Financial regulators in Switzerland identified US$416 million in assets believed to belong to Qadhafi, US$474 that is linked to Mubarak and US$69 million belong to Ben Ali.

The announcement was made by Switzerland's Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey at a diplomatic meeting in the Tunisian capital, Tunis. Switzerland has been trying to ditch its reputation as a safe haven for corrupt official's money, an issue Calmy-Rey addressed on Monday.

“The idea of Switzerland as a safe haven for stolen funds belongs to the past, and, if at all, is best left to crime thrillers,” she said.

Calmy-Rey said Switzerland has acted quickly to freeze accounts of leaders throughout 2011. She said that five days after Ben Ali was toppled, officials ordered his assets to be frozen. Similarly, thirty minutes after Mubarak announced he was stepping down, his assets were frozen. When Qadhafi started to bomb the rebels, institutions were alledgedly ordered to block all Libyan money.

In each case, Switzerland announced it was freezing the assets of the leaders and their inner circles before the US and the EU. Indeed, the US has still not frozen the assets of Ben Ali or Mubarak, although it has seized US$34 billion in assets tied to the Libyan regime.

As part of their efforts to reform their reputation for bank secrecy, the Swiss passed a law last year making it easier for the government to freeze assets and repatriate them.

The Swiss government says Tunisia and Egypt have already started legal proceedings to claim the assets.

Sources: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

For more information, please see the Menas ACCS website, here.

Egypt's Hosni Mubarak in corruption investigation

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his family are being investigated for the large fortune they amassed during his thirty years in power in the country's largest ever corruption probe.

Mubarak was forced to step down on 11th February after weeks of nationwide demonstrations calling for his removal. The 82-year-old former leader is reported to be under guard in a hospital in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. Mubarak reportedly began complaining of heart problems shortly after anti-corruption investigators began to interrogate him.

Prosecutors have accused Mubarak, his family and their close associates of amassing billions of dollars during his reign, and have launched a massive corruption investigation to identify, sequester and recover the money.

Egypt's ruling Higher Council of the Armed Forces (HCAF) announced in April that it would be setting up a judicial committee to investigate complaints against Mubarak and his family. An HCAF statement said the committee would pursue all legal measure to sequestrate the family's illegitimately gained properties, movable assets and offshore bank accounts.

Investigators have asked foreign governments to freeze the family's overseas assets and the Swiss government has quickly moved to comply. The Wall Street Journal reported on 3rd May that Switzerland had frozen the funds of Libya's leader Mu'ammar Qadhafi, Tunisia's former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, and Mubarak. It did not announce the names of the banks holding the money, but did say it had frozen 410 million francs (US$470 million) deposited by Mubarak and his inner circle.

A group of lawyers and jurists in Egypt have formed the Egyptian Legal Group for Redumption of the People's Wealth (ELGRPW), dedicated to searching out Mubarak's gains. They are appealing to whistleblowers and are using their network of professionals worldwide to try to follow the flow of money through shell companies, trusts and offshore bank accounts.

Information is already appearing about the size of Mubarak and his family's wealth. Egypt's new justice minister, Mohammed al-Guindi, was reported in the Global Post as saying that Mubarak's wealth could amount to US$70 billion.

Guinda said that Mubarak accumulated his wealth from gas exports to Israel through a company owned by a friend, as well as through various arms deals.

Mubarak's sons, Alaa, 49, and Gamal, 47, are currently being held for investigation in a high-security prison south of Cairo. Prosecutors have accused the two, but especially Gamal, of using political power to bring about the introduction of new economic policies and financial regulations that allowed them to plunder Egypt's public assets, according to IPS.

The two allegedly made vast sums of money through stock market manipulation and kickbacks from the sale of undervalued state assets. For example, Gamal owned a 50 per cent stake in and Alaa sat on the board of Bullion, a Cyprus-registered securities fund with nearly one billion dollars under its management. Bullion's subsidiaries invested heavily in companies managed by Mubarak's allies, who made huge profits due to favourable government contracts.

Egyptian prosecutors are also putting a case together against Mubarak's wife, Suzanne, 69. It was recently discovered that the former first lady held a secret bank account at the National Bank of Egypt with over US$147 million in donations from European countries intended for the Bibliotheca Alexandria. The library's administers have said they were unaware of the existence of the account. The former first lady was involved in a number of NGOs and charities, and these are now being investigated as being a front for capturing foreign donations.

Mubarak is also being investigated on separate charges which include complicity to murder after he allegedly ordered security forces to kill protesters during demonstrations in January and February. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, Global Post, IPS

For more information, see the Menas ACCS website, here.