Former President Hosni Mubarak’s sons, his Defense Minister Abdel Halim Abu Ghazala, his secretary and other senior officials were granted plots of land as a matter of "courtesy,” claimed the prosecutor investigating allegations that former presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq sold state land to Alaa and Gamal Mubarak at below-market prices.
The sale took place when Shafiq was the head of the pilot’s housing association, which had been allocated the land by the former president.
Pilots association chairman Nabil Shokry has admitted to the charges, adding that Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were granted 40,000 square meters, whereas each plot allocated for the pilots to buy was no more than 4,000 square meters.
“I told Mubarak the land given to his sons was too big and people might hold this against him,” Shokry said. “He told me nobody will dare utter a word.”
He said Shafiq, who is fugitive in the United Arab Emirates, signed the papers for Mubarak’s sons, knowing the plot was too big. “I signed in my capacity as chairman, and he as treasurer,” he said.
“There are others who are not pilots but were also given land plots,” he added. “They are the sons of Abdel Halim Abu Ghazala, Nabil al-Oraby,* brother of former chief of staff Ibrahim Abdel Ghafour al-Oraby, and Major General Mallah Rahmy.”
But, Shokry said, the decision to effect the sales was decided by the previous board of directors when Mohamed Helmy was defense minister.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
*Correction: This article previously stated that Ambassador Nabil al-Araby's son was given a plot of land. It has been corrected to identify Nabil al-Oraby's son as a recipient.
