Egypt's Ministry of Health (Photo: Ahram)
Egypt's General Prosecutor Nabil Sadek referred on Thursday two of the country's health officials to criminal court for requesting an EGP 4 million bribe.
The officials allegedly demanded the bribe in exchange for ordering the direct signing, without bidding, of a supply contract for bone marrow transplant equipment to a private company, state-owned news agency MENA reported.
The prosecution's evidence in the case includes recorded phone calls between the health minister's consultant for specialized hospitals and another official at Cairo's Ain Shams hospital in which the two mediated the bribe request from the company's officials.
Last May, security forces arrested the health minister's consultant for medical centre affairs on corruption charges.
The defendant was caught receiving bribes, in the form of cheques worth a total of EGP 4.5 million, at the Ministry of Health headquarters, according to an official statement by the ministry.
The corruption case, opened in September 2015, involved multiple other defendants including cabinet officials. The scandal triggered a cabinet reshuffle that resulted in the appointment of a new health minister.
In Early 2016, sacked agriculture minister Salah Helal received a 10-year prison sentence and an EGP 1 million fine on charges of corruption.
For the month of December, 2016, the Local Observatory Partners For Transparency (PFT) recorded five cases of corruption and violations in the country's health sector.
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