Former Egyptian finance minister Yussef Boutros Ghali was on Saturday sentenced in absentia to 30 years of prison over corruption charges, Egypt’s official news agency Mena said.
Ghali, one of a string of ministers of toppled president Hosni Mubarak’s regime who faced justice as part of a probe into fraud by the country’s new military rulers, was found guilty of squandering public money by using cars held in customs and abusing his position for personal gain from ministry funds.
The court ordered him to return 35 million Egyptian pounds ($5.8 million) and pay the same amount in fines. However, Ghali’s current whereabouts are unknown as he fled Egypt on the morning of February 11, hours before Mubarak stepped down.
Rallies demanding trials of former officials and political reforms continue in post-Mubarak Egypt.
CAIRO, June 4 (RIA Novosti)