An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced steel magnate Ahmed Ezz and former industrial development chief Amr Assal to 10 years in prison and a joint fine of 660 million Egyptian pounds ($110.9 million) for corruption under ex-president Hosni Mubarak.
The court also sentenced former Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid in absentia to 15 years and a fine of 1.4 billion Egyptian pounds, his third conviction in three months. Shares of Ezz Steel fell 8.9 percent before the Egyptian bourse suspended trading on the stock "pending the firm's replies to inquiries", it said without giving details.
The verdicts hit trading in general, as the stock market fell 2.7 percent by close. Investors remain jittery over the political uncertainty in a country that faces regular street protests and where the timetable for new elections is unclear. The presiding judge said it would be up to Ezz, who was a senior ruling party official before Mubarak's overthrow in a popular uprising, and Assal to pay the fine between them, representing the total of public money he said they had wasted. Ezz, Assal and Rachid were all found guilty of collaborating to grant licences without payment of fees. The judge revoked the licences.
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