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| Africa North |
| 3 Mubarak-era ministers jailed for corruption |
| 2011-07-13 |
| CAIRO: Three Egyptian ex-ministers were sentenced Tuesday to up to 10 years in jail for profiteering in a case involving the purchase of car number plates, a judicial official said. Former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly was sentenced to five years, while former Finance Minister Yussef Boutros Ghali got 10 years in absentia and ex-Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was given a one-year suspended sentence. The three were charged with misusing public funds and unlawful gains valued at 92 million Egyptian pounds ($15 million), the official said. Several years ago, Egypt changed the format of its vehicle number plates. The ministers, along with a German businessman, were accused of profiteering from a deal to import the new number plates, which they bought directly without a public tender as laid down by the law. They also bought the number plates for higher than their market price. El-Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years, then five years on corruption charges, and Ghali was sentenced to 30 years in a separate case. The trials are part of a broad probe into corruption by the country's new military rulers who took power after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February. |
| Posted by:Steve White |