Nazif Imprisonment Verdict Details reveal Family’s Illicit Gains

The Cairo Criminal Court revealed Saturday details of its verdict handed to Mubarak-era prime minister Ahmed Nazif, outlining the illicit gains he received while working for the government.

On 22 July, the court handed Nazif five years imprisonment, whilst also sentencing him to an EGP 53.3m fine. He was also ordered to pay back EGP 48.6m to the Egyptian government for the illegal profiteering charges he was accused of whilst in his official roles.

The punishments in last Wednesday’s retrial are significantly more severe than in previous verdicts for the case. In September 2012, the court gave Nazif a three-year prison sentence and an EGP 4.5m fine. Also included in the charges were his wife Mona Abdel Fattah, and sons Sharif and Khalid. It is understood that Nazif can appeal Wednesday’s verdict.

The court said that during the period between 1983 and 2011, the period in which Nazif held public offices, he and his family made illicit gains worth more than EGP 53m.

The illicit gains included EGP 1.3m in gifts from state-run press institutions, and an Alexandria housing unit for his wife, originally worth EGP 11.6m, for a lesser price and exclusive facilitations.

The court also said that Nazif established an educational institution with the aim of public benefit, which was initially run by his wife, before passing to  his sons. Nazif had collected donations for the project that reached a total of EGP 34.1m, while he illegally acquired its profits.

He became prime minister in 2004, but was dismissed in late January 2011 by former president Hosni Mubarak, who made the move in an attempt to quell the 25 January Revolution. Nazif was replaced by Ahmed Shafiq, but the move failed to sway the revolution’s momentum.

Source: Daily News Egypt