Three Egyptian ex-ministers were sentenced on July 12 to up to 10 years in jail for profiteering in a case involving the purchase of car number plates. Former Interior Minister Habib El-Adly was sentenced to five years, while former Finance Minister Yussef Boutros Ghali got 10 years in absentia and ex-Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif was given a one-year suspended sentence. The three were charged with misusing public funds and unlawful gains valued at 92 million Egyptian pounds ($15 million). El-Adly has already been sentenced to 12 years, then five years on corruption charges, and Ghali was sentenced to 30 years in a separate case.
Several years ago, Egypt changed the format of its vehicle number plates. The ministers, along with a German businessman, were accused of profiteering from a deal to import the new number plates, which they bought directly without a public tender as laid down by the law. They also bought the number plates for higher than their market price. The trials are part of a broad probe into corruption by the country’s new military rulers who took power after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by a popular uprising in February.