Egypt's pre-revolution interior minister is referred to criminal court following fresh accusations that he abused his authority under Mubarak to seize LE181 mn worth of land, property Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority on Monday referred former interior minister Habib El-Adly to a criminal court on fresh charges of illegal profiteering. El-Adly is accused of using his authority during his tenure as interior minister (1997-2011) to seize LE181 million worth of land and property. In May 2011, El-Adly was convicted of money laundering and profiteering, for which he was slapped with a 12-year jail sentence. Last month, however, Egypt's Court of Cassation overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial. In January, the same court ordered the retrial of El-Adly and ousted president Hosni Mubarak, both of whom had been found guilty of failing to prevent the killing of unarmed anti-government demonstrators during Egypt's 25 January 2011 revolution. The retrial was ordered after an appellate court accepted appeals lodged by the two former regime figures. In June of last year, Mubarak and El-Adly had both been sentenced to life in prison following the conviction, while six high-ranking security officials who faced similar charges were acquitted. The former minister remains in prison, where he is currently serving another five-year sentence for squandering public funds in Egypt's notorious 'license plates' case, in which a German company was awarded a government contract to provide license plates for government vehicles at inflated prices. Official documents obtained by leading state daily Al-Ahram in September 2012 indicated that El-Adly's personal fortune stood at some $3 billion, including real estate assets.
