The Illicit Gains Authority will refer former President Hosni Mubarak and his immediate family back to criminal court once it receives reports being prepared by Justice Ministry experts on their wealth, the authority head said Sunday.
Assem al-Gohary, the assistant justice minister and head of the authority, said he expected to receive the reports next week, which detail the amount of money gained by the former president, his wife Suzanne, and his two sons Gamal and Alaa while he was president. The case should then be transferred to the criminal court system, at which charges are expected to be brought against the four for illegal accumulation of wealth.
Mubarak and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life in prison on Saturday for failing to stop the killing of protesters during the 18-day uprising in early 2011. However, the court acquitted six former security officials of the same charges citing lack of evidence.
The public prosecutor lodged an appeal on Sunday against the acquittal of the six officials and banned them from traveling, the prosecutor's assistant said.
Gohary was quoted by state-owned news agency MENA as saying that if the Illicit Gains Authority approves the referral of any accused Mubarak family members or other defendants to criminal court on charges related to illicit gains, the authority will ask the court to find them guilty of 15 years imprisonment and return the funds they accumulated, plus a fine equal to that amount.
Last October, Gohary said the investigations into Mubarak’s illegal wealth showed that his two sons reportedly have US$340 million in Swiss bank accounts.
Gohary said the authority also requested a quick report on the wealth accumulated by other Mubarak regime figures, such as former People’s Assembly Speaker Ahmed Fathi Sorour, former Shura Council Speaker Safwat al-Sherif and former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, as well as a number of other officials.
