The Illicit Gains Authority (IGA) decided on Tuesday to prevent ousted President Hosni Mubarak's former secretary Gamal Abdel Aziz and his wife, Magda Bendary, from leaving the country.
In a statement, IGA head Assem al-Gohary said that according to investigations and reports prepared by the regulatory authorities, Abdel Aziz and his wife had accumulated a fortune incommensurate with their legally established sources of income.
Gohary said that the reports indicate that Abdel Aziz's personal financial disclosure statements did not match his actual finances, likely indicating that the money was gained illegally.
Egyptian news reports said that Abdel Aziz's influence over Mubarak exceeded that of intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
In a press statement last month, Major General Shafiq al-Banna, a former official in the presidential cabinet, revealed that Abdel Aziz had abused his proximity to Mubarak for personal gain and amassed a fortune estimated by some sources to be US$10 billion.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
