Egypt’s Illicit Gains Authority has decided to remove the names of a Mubarak-era interior minister and presidential chief of staff from a list of those subject to an asset freeze after the men were recently acquitted of charges of relating to corruption.

Ex-interior minister Habib El-Adly was acquitted in May of charges of embezzling public funds, and subsequently made a request to the authority to remove a freeze on his assets.

El-Adly was previously sentenced in April 2017, along with a number of aides, to seven years in prison. Those convicted were ordered to pay a hefty fine and restitution of EGP 529 million on charges of embezzling interior ministry funds amounting to EGP 2.38 billion.

The defendants won an appeal and the Court of Cassation acquitted nearly all of them, including El-Adly, at a retrial earlier this month.

In addition, Mubarak’s chief of staff Zakaria Azmy, Azmy's wife, and his brother-in-law were also removed from the list by the decision on Friday, following a request by Azmy after he was acquitted earlier this year of charges of illicit gains, in a case which dates back to 2012.