File photo: Ahmed Ezz, former senior leader in former President Hosni Mubarak's party and chairman of Ezz Steel(Photo: Reuters)
Egypt's Court of Cassation has ordered a retrial for notorious business tycoon Ahmed Ezz, who successfully appealed his conviction on charges related to his role in money laundering, illicit profiteering and appropriation of public funds.
The court cancelled Ezz’s seven-year prison sentence and LE19.3 billion fine.
In October 2012, Ezz was found guilty of laundering LE6.4 billion in illegally acquired funds between 2003 and 2011, in deals related to his acquisition of Ezz El-Dekheila steel plant.
Ezz will remain in prison serving sentences for other graft convictions.
In December, the Court of Cassation cancelled a 10-year sentence against the steel magnate for graft charges related to the illegal sale of steel licences.
Using his companies Ezz Steel and Ezz Industries, Ezz gradually increased his holding of Alexandria National Iron and Steel Company (ANISC), changed its name and became the chairman of the region's largest steel conglomerate.
The former chief whip of Hosni Mubarak’s now-defunct National Democratic Party was arrested in the aftermath of Egypt's January 2011 uprising.
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