Is there more to the Egyptian TV corruption scandal than meets the eye? Mohamed El-Sayed investigates State-owned Egyptian television is in the midst of one of the biggest corruption scandals in its history. Late last month, Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi suddenly fired Abdel-Rahman Hafez, chairman of the Egyptian Media Production City and former head of the TV and Radio Union. Although El-Fiqi said the move "comes in the context of the ministry's efforts to improve the performance of these companies, as well as to bring in new blood," by the first week of December the real reasons for Hafez's dismissal had become slightly clearer. On 8 December, El-Fiqi referred Hafez to the prosecutor-general after Administrative Monitoring Authority investigations showed he had "committed grave violations when he was head of the Radio and TV Union, by signing a contract to broadcast the Egyptian Satellite Channel in the Americas without properly studying [the matter]." The resulting losses to the union were calculated at $18.8 million. Hafez was also accused of "wasting LE50 million of the media company's funds". El-Fiqi also submitted a memo to the prosecutor-general, Maher Abdel-Wahed, asking him to interrogate Hafez about "the violations he committed during his term at the helm of Media Production City." The specific issue being referred to was the contract Hafez signed with the co-owner of the Egyptian Arab Company for Advertising Media, businessman Ihab Talaat, granting the company a concession to be the sole advertiser on local TV channels and Nile TV. By virtue of this concession, Talaat's company was given 15,200 advertising minutes at a 55-60 per cent discount, in clear violation of the media city's regulations. He also used "exaggerated" figures in the contracts he signed to co- produce three TV soap operas, allegedly doing so in an attempt to "reduce the company's debt, which had hit LE48 million." El-Fiqi also accused Hafez of "taking LE3.2 million of the city's money via illegal means". Hafez's dismissal came in the wake of a media campaign led by the opposition Al-Wafd, which published documents it said provided evidence of the "illegal deals" that had been signed between the Media Production City, represented by its chairman Hafez, and the Egyptian Arab Company for Advertising Media, represented by Talaat. The day after Hafez was arrested, Talaat -- accompanied by his wife prominent pop singer Sherine Wagdi -- tried to fly to Athens on board his private plane. He was prevented from doing so, however, by the authorities at Cairo Airport, who had received a prosecutor-general's decree preventing Talaat from leaving the country. Two days later, Talaat was taken in for questioning, and detained for 15 days pending interrogations. The prosecutor-general also issued a decree freezing the assets of Hafez, Talaat and their families. Although Talaat subsequently offered to pay back his debts to the media city in instalments, the prosecution refused. "Talaat is notorious for not keeping his promises," the prosecution said, pointing out that he was also heavily indebted to the Radio and TV Union and the Al-Ahram foundation. Several other high-profile TV corruption cases were exposed over the past decade. Mohamed El-Wakil, former head of the news sector, was imprisoned for accepting bribes to host certain individuals on the popular " Sabah El-Kheir Ya Masr " (Good Morning Egypt) talk show, and former media city chairman Mamdouh El-Leithi was also convicted of accepting bribes. Some observers suggested, however, that the current case involves a different dynamic. It was either a serious attempt by the government to eradicate corruption, given that Egypt is a signatory to the UN- sponsored anti-corruption treaty, or a major episode in the ongoing battle between the new and old guard within the National Democratic Party (NDP). The latter theory might have more weight, despite the fact that an informed Information Ministry source said that "referring Hafez and Talaat to the prosecutor- general was in the framework of exposing corruption in all the ministry-affiliated companies." Recounting the story of Talaat's sudden rise to business prominence 10 years ago, Al-Wafd and other newspapers said he became friends with Ashraf El-Sherif -- son of Shura Council speaker and NDP Secretary-General Safwat El-Sherif, who was the information minister at the time -- following Ashraf El-Sherif's return from Saudi Arabia. Talaat, Ashraf El-Sherif, and a third businessman named Tareq Siyam then established the Egyptian Arab Company for Advertising Media with LE1 million in capital. Observers are arguing that the case was catalysed by the NDP's younger reformist cadres with the aim of miring old guard leader Safwat El-Sherif in scandal, and eventually toppling him from his position as the party's secretary-general. Hafez himself had previously threatened to "disclose the names of senior officials who put pressure on me to close these deals". Prominent columnist Magdi Mehanna agreed that "the exposure of this corruption case could be part of the conflict going on between the old and new guards within the NDP." Basically, Mehanna doesn't think the case has anything to do with the commitment of the government to eradicate corruption because "Hafez's arrest will not lead to drastic changes in Egyptian TV, where there's a huge amount of corruption, and the government still deals with it on a case-by-case basis."
