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| Egyptian Court Convicts Mubarak of Embezzlement | Egyptian Court Convicts Mubarak of Embezzlement |
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| CAIRO — A criminal court here convicted former President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday of diverting millions of dollars in public money for his personal use in a case that rights advocates say could also now implicate the current prime minister and spy chief in a cover-up. | CAIRO — A criminal court here convicted former President Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday of diverting millions of dollars in public money for his personal use in a case that rights advocates say could also now implicate the current prime minister and spy chief in a cover-up. |
| The court sentenced Mr. Mubarak, 86 years old and living under house arrest in a military hospital overlooking the Nile, to three years in prison. His sons Gamal and Alaa were each sentenced to four years for participating in the scheme. The court ordered the three to pay penalties and make repayments totaling more than $20 million. | The court sentenced Mr. Mubarak, 86 years old and living under house arrest in a military hospital overlooking the Nile, to three years in prison. His sons Gamal and Alaa were each sentenced to four years for participating in the scheme. The court ordered the three to pay penalties and make repayments totaling more than $20 million. |
| Two years ago, the former president was convicted and received a life sentence in a separate case for directing the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that ended his rule in 2011, but even the presiding judge acknowledged at the time that the evidence was thin, and an appeals court has ordered a retrial. Mr. Mubarak is expected to appeal the new verdict as well, but the evidence appears far more substantial. | Two years ago, the former president was convicted and received a life sentence in a separate case for directing the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising that ended his rule in 2011, but even the presiding judge acknowledged at the time that the evidence was thin, and an appeals court has ordered a retrial. Mr. Mubarak is expected to appeal the new verdict as well, but the evidence appears far more substantial. |
| His conviction on Wednesday, involving his presidential palaces, arguably spares the new government installed by former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the potential embarrassment of allowing Mr. Mubarak out on the streets. Mr. Sisi, who led the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer, is set to win next week’s election to replace him. The former field marshal has sought to portray his rise to power as an extension of the 2011 uprising against Mr. Mubarak, while critics denounce a return to Mubarak-style autocracy. In interviews, Mr. Sisi has forcefully vowed not to allow a return of the high-level corruption associated with Mr. Mubarak’s three decades in power. | His conviction on Wednesday, involving his presidential palaces, arguably spares the new government installed by former Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of the potential embarrassment of allowing Mr. Mubarak out on the streets. Mr. Sisi, who led the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer, is set to win next week’s election to replace him. The former field marshal has sought to portray his rise to power as an extension of the 2011 uprising against Mr. Mubarak, while critics denounce a return to Mubarak-style autocracy. In interviews, Mr. Sisi has forcefully vowed not to allow a return of the high-level corruption associated with Mr. Mubarak’s three decades in power. |
| Mr. Mubarak’s conviction turns on a diversion of funds with the complicity of the state-run construction company then headed by Ibrahim Mehleb, who is now the prime minister of the government Mr. Sisi installed. And a former corruption investigator involved in documenting the charges has filed a lawsuit alleging that Mr. Mubarak’s embezzlement was deliberately covered up by a former chief corruption watchdog, Gen. Mohamed Farid el-Tohamy, a former mentor to Mr. Sisi whom the field marshal named as chief of general intelligence. | Mr. Mubarak’s conviction turns on a diversion of funds with the complicity of the state-run construction company then headed by Ibrahim Mehleb, who is now the prime minister of the government Mr. Sisi installed. And a former corruption investigator involved in documenting the charges has filed a lawsuit alleging that Mr. Mubarak’s embezzlement was deliberately covered up by a former chief corruption watchdog, Gen. Mohamed Farid el-Tohamy, a former mentor to Mr. Sisi whom the field marshal named as chief of general intelligence. |
| Mr. Mubarak was convicted on Wednesday of conspiring to embezzle more than $17 million over an eight-year period ending in 2011 by billing lavish personal expenses like telecommunications system maintenance done by the state-owned construction giant, the Arab Contractors. The court filings named two low-level Arab Contractors employees as collaborators in the fraud, but a preliminary investigation also alleged that Mr. Mehleb may have knowingly approved of the diversion, said Hossam Bahgat, a former Egyptian rights advocate and journalist who has reviewed the initial investigation and court papers. | Mr. Mubarak was convicted on Wednesday of conspiring to embezzle more than $17 million over an eight-year period ending in 2011 by billing lavish personal expenses like telecommunications system maintenance done by the state-owned construction giant, the Arab Contractors. The court filings named two low-level Arab Contractors employees as collaborators in the fraud, but a preliminary investigation also alleged that Mr. Mehleb may have knowingly approved of the diversion, said Hossam Bahgat, a former Egyptian rights advocate and journalist who has reviewed the initial investigation and court papers. |
| That preliminary inquiry was conducted by Moatassem Fathi, an investigator at the government’s Administrative Oversight Authority, and in court filings and televised interviews he has charged that while Mr. Mubarak was in power the authority’s director, Mr. Tohamy, effectively suppressed the inquiry into the presidential palaces along with several others that might have embarrassed high-level officials. | That preliminary inquiry was conducted by Moatassem Fathi, an investigator at the government’s Administrative Oversight Authority, and in court filings and televised interviews he has charged that while Mr. Mubarak was in power the authority’s director, Mr. Tohamy, effectively suppressed the inquiry into the presidential palaces along with several others that might have embarrassed high-level officials. |
| Mr. Fathi resigned in frustration shortly before the 2011 uprising. Afterward, he won his job back in a court case charging he had been wrongly penalized by the authority for his corruption investigations, and he ultimately gathered the evidence and testimonies that led to the case. | Mr. Fathi resigned in frustration shortly before the 2011 uprising. Afterward, he won his job back in a court case charging he had been wrongly penalized by the authority for his corruption investigations, and he ultimately gathered the evidence and testimonies that led to the case. |
| After the election of Mr. Morsi as president, Mr. Fathi filed a legal complaint and gave television interviews charging that Mr. Tohamy had covered up corruption investigations. Mr. Morsi fired Mr. Tohamy, and prosecutors initiated an inquiry against him. | After the election of Mr. Morsi as president, Mr. Fathi filed a legal complaint and gave television interviews charging that Mr. Tohamy had covered up corruption investigations. Mr. Morsi fired Mr. Tohamy, and prosecutors initiated an inquiry against him. |
| But after Mr. Sisi ousted Mr. Morsi last summer, the new government immediately named Mr. Tohamy — a close ally of Mr. Sisi — to the more senior position of head of general intelligence, Egypt’s spy chief. Mr. Fathi’s complaint was all but forgotten, and he was soon demoted. Recently, he was transferred again to a desk job at the legal affairs department of the Ministry of Trade. | But after Mr. Sisi ousted Mr. Morsi last summer, the new government immediately named Mr. Tohamy — a close ally of Mr. Sisi — to the more senior position of head of general intelligence, Egypt’s spy chief. Mr. Fathi’s complaint was all but forgotten, and he was soon demoted. Recently, he was transferred again to a desk job at the legal affairs department of the Ministry of Trade. |
| “The political environment under Mr. Mubarak was tough because there was no real political will to seriously go after corrupt officials,” Mr. Fathi told Mr. Bahgat, the former rights advocate, in a detailed report on the case that was published Tuesday in an online publication, Mada Masr. “I thought all of this would change with Mubarak’s ouster, but the revolution was not given a chance to govern.” | |
| Mr. Fathi could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. | Mr. Fathi could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. |