Egypt’s Talaat Moustafa shares rise after CEO returns to office

Egyptian real estate tycoon Hesham Talaat Moustafa has been appointed once again as the chief executive of the country’s Egypt’s largest listed property developer Talaat Mostafa Group.

Shares of the property group jumped 6 percent at early trade on Wednesday following the news of Moustafa’s release and appointment.

Moustafa jailed in Cairo for the murder of a Lebanese pop diva in Dubai almost a decade ago was freed as part of a presidential pardon for hundreds of detainees on health grounds.

He was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2010 for the murder of Suzanne Tamim. Moustafa was released from prison on Friday.

The Lebanese singer’s killing sparked an outcry in the region, particularly in Egypt where Moustafa was a respected figure and a business associate of ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s son and heir apparent Gamal. Moustafa was also a member of Mubarak’s now-dissolved National Democratic Party.

In May 2009, Moustafa was sentenced to jail but a year later an appeals court overturned the verdict on procedural grounds and ordered a retrial.