Ex-Minister Of Trade & Industry Gets 15 Years In Prison For Graft

Cairo’s criminal court has sentenced Hosni Mubarak-era minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid and his daughter Alya in absentia on charges of graft.

The court also slapped the defendants with a LE522 million ($74 million) fine for illegally amassing a fortune of LE0.5 million ($71,400) and smuggling it to Cyprus without declaring the money to authorities.

The alleged smuggling took place after Rachid left his ministerial post and fled the country following Egypt’s January 2011 uprising.

From 2004 to 2011, Rachid – who currently resides outside of the country – served as trade and industry minister for ousted president Mubarak.

In 2011, in the wake of Egypt’s Tahrir Square uprising, the former minister was sentenced in absentia to 20 years in prison on graft and corruption charges.

Last year, Rachid settled two other legal cases in which he had been accused of squandering public funds while serving as trade minister, by paying a fine of LE15 million (roughly $2.2 million) to Egyptian authorities.

Source : Ahram online