The Illicit Gains Authority has referred two employees from the Smart Cards Applications Company to criminal court on charges of graft allegedly worth EGP 60 million.
They are alleged to have squandered public funds, committed a dereliction of their professional duties, and laundered money.
The company is one of three responsible for printing subsidy cards that track beneficiaries’ allocations of subsidised food.
The two employees are accused of fraudulently creating one million cards by duplicating existing cards, activating cancelled cards, and issuing cards to those who were not eligible.
Egypt introduced an electronic smart card system in 2014, replacing an old paper card system, to distribute bread and other food products to
71 million registered beneficiaries.
The new system aimed at curbing waste.
Egypt is the world's biggest wheat importer at an estimated 11 million tonnes per year, in part due to its large-scale bread subsidy system.
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