Cairo Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced in absentia former Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid and his daughter Alia to 15 years in prison and fined them LE522 million and a similar amount to be repaid to the government.
They were convicted of achieving illicit gains of more than half a billion pounds by obtaining inside information about an IPO of the Hermes company to increase its capital and by accessing bank loans against fake shares in the company that he had not bought at the time he obtained those loans.
The verdict was issued in the first session because the defendants were not present, yet Rachid’s lawyer said his client was not notified of the date of the session.
The Illicit Gains Authority had referred Rachid, who fled the country, to criminal court on the charges. It had also asked the Interpol to issue an arrest warrant for Rachid and his daughter and put them on a list for internationally wanted fugitives in accordance with international conventions.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
