Former President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak (Photo:Reuters)
The settlement amount former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s has given back in lieu of gifts he received from Al-Ahram institution is not final as the valuation process has not been completed, a Public Funds Prosecution (PFP) attorney said Thursday.
“The technical committee has not finished valuing all the gifts [the Mubaraks] received, because of their large number,” PFP Attorney-General Mostafa El-Husseini told Ahram Arabic news website on Thursday.
Egypt's general prosecutor accepted Wednesday an offer from former president Hosni Mubarak to pay LE18 million ($2.8 million) for gifts received, along with members of his immediate family, from the state-owned Al-Ahram Press and Publishing Organisation.
Other Mubarak-era officials investigated collectively paid LE30 million back in lieu of similar gifts.
El-Husseini explained that investigations could reveal further gifts that officials would be required repay in compensation.
Mubarak's gifts alone valued up to LE7 million in the form of jewelry, watches, ties, leather bags and belts.
The Ahram gifts case also includes former head of the Shura Council Safwat El-Sherif and former head of the People's Assembly Ahmed Fathi Sorour.
Zakaria Azmy, Mubarak’s chief of staff, paid LE250,000 as a first installment on his gift compensation.
Former members of Al-Ahram's board of directors who gave the gifts are also being investigated.
On Monday, the general prosecutor lifted a travel ban placed on 10 Mubarak-era officials after they paid off the value of gifts they received.
While the current investigation looks into gifts received from Al-Ahram during 2006-2011, it could also date back to 1984 and include more officials and more gifts.
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