The head of Egypt's Administrative Prosecution referred Saturday the former heads of the Egyptian Public Taxes and Customs authorities to disciplinary trial for squandering public funds amounting to around EGP 32 million.

The Administrative Prosecution has also ordered that the money be recovered and that the public prosecutor initiate an investigation as the basis of a criminal case.

A committee of the Ministry of Finance has been formed to investigate the financial violations of the two defendants, said Mohamed Samir, spokesperson of the Administrative Prosecution, in an official statement.

Investigations revealed that the first defendant, the former head of the Egyptian Public Taxes Authority, unlawfully received almost EGP 130,000 in the period between February 2010 and February 2011, the statement reads.

The second defendant, the former head of the Egyptian Customs Authority, embezzled public money to an amount of more than EGP 31 million in the period between July 2008 and January 2011.

The money was divided between the second defendant, former officials in the finance ministry, and others outside the Customs Authority.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has repeatedly underlined the importance of combating corruption within government bodies. In December, he hailed efforts by the Administrative Control Authority in this regard.

Egypt was ranked 108 of 176 countries in Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index.