Controversial former minister of housing Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman has been banned from travelling outside Egypt pending investigation on charges of misappropriating public funds, reports Gamal Essam El-Din It has been a difficult week for former minister of housing Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman. On Sunday Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud ordered Suleiman be banned from travelling abroad. The move, said Mahmoud, followed the recommendation of the Public Funds Prosecution Office (PFPO) and the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) which are questioning Suleiman over allegations he misappropriated public funds. The Public Funds Prosecution Office began questioning Suleiman on 11 February. The ACA alleges that during his time as minister of housing and new communities between 1993 and 2005 Suleiman allocated valuable plots of land to family members, including his wife and three children. In a 50-page report the ACA has accused Suleiman of allocating eight plots of land to his son Sherif, his daughter Dunia and his wife Mona in the New Cairo district of Tagammu Al-Khamis in "violation of the new communities law which allows just one plot of land to be allocated per 600 metres to each member of his family only to subsequently increase it to 2,000 and 4,500 metres". The ACA report also accuses Suleiman of allocating four plots of land in east Cairo's Golf Heights district to his family. "Each member of his family bought the land for LE250 a metre though just three months later Suleiman ordered that plots of land in the Golf village be priced at LE1,000 a metre. His actions constitute the misappropriation of public property and profiteering," said the report. "Members of Suleiman's family, after paying just LE250 per metre for the land, sold it shortly afterwards to private real estate investors for LE1,000 a metre." The report says Suleiman did the same in the northern Mediterranean resort of Marina and the southern Cairo district of Tagammu Al-Khamis, where 20 plots of land were allocated to his brothers-in-law and their sons at just LE250 per metre. Suleiman is also accused of aiding wealthy businessmen, MPs and cabinet ministers to secure large plots of land in exclusive real estate developments in New Cairo, Sheikh Zayed, 6 October and Sherouq. "Suleiman also sold 1,500 feddans to Mohamed Hassan Dora, a real estate development investor, in 1994, but Dora has refused to pay the purchase price," alleges the report. "In return Dora bought a villa in the North Cairo resort of Qanatir Al-Khairiya for LE10 million from one of Suleiman's relatives." Suleiman is accused of facilitating the purchase of a hotel, a cinema and a bowling centre in Marina by "the same businessman to whom he allocated 300 feddans in Tagammu Al-Khamis, charging him just LE250 per metre". "It was illegal," the report concludes, "for Suleiman to allocate lands to businessmen, members of his family and relatives." "It was the duty of Suleiman to maximise revenues for the state treasury by selling plots of land through public auctions. Instead, he allocated lands to further his personal interests in violation of bidding regulations." The Public Funds Prosecution Office is also questioning Suleiman over complaints lodged by 47 independent and opposition MPs. The group, led by independent MP Alaa Abdel-Moneim, has also accused Suleiman of abusing his office by allowing relatives and businessmen to buy valuable plots of land in new communities at knock- down prices which they later sold at an enormous profit. Suleiman defended himself against the ACA's charges, giving evidence for seven hours on 11 February. The former minister, whose parliamentary membership was dropped on 1 February, strongly refuted charges that he contravened any regulations. "It is not in the Minister of Housing's remit to grant lands directly to citizens any way he likes," Suleiman said. "It is the Organisation of New Communities, not the minister of housing, that is legally empowered to allocate lands." Suleiman denies that he gave instructions for plots of land to be allocated to his family or businessmen. "Like other ordinary citizens members of my family moved to buy lands in new communities. I have all the papers to show they paid the full price of all the land they bought. When members of my family first offered to buy land it was priced at just LE100 a metre. When they came to sign the contracts the price had climbed to LE1,000 per metre. They bought the lands at the latter price and paid in full. Suleiman also argues that, "after I came to office in 1994 it was very difficult to encourage real estate developers to invest in new desert communities around Cairo and it was necessary, as a result, to sell the land to them at cheap prices." "This policy bore fruit in the form of a network of new communities in provincial governorates and around Cairo, including 6 October, Sherouq, Rehab, Tagammu Al-Khamis, Qattamiya Heights, New Aswan, New Sohag and New Damietta. Do not turn selling this land at a cheap price into a charge against me or evidence of misappropriating public funds and property. It was part of a successful policy aimed at encouraging investors, populating new communities and overcoming the housing crisis," Suleiman pleaded. Informed sources suggest that the ban on Suleiman travelling abroad indicates that the charges levelled against him are being taken seriously and he could soon be referred to trial. In addition to losing his seat in parliament last week, Suleiman also lost his job as chairman of the government-owned Maritime Petroleum Services Company (MPSC). The State Council judged that Suleiman's appointment violated Article 95 of the constitution which clearly states that MPs cannot be appointed to government positions or conclude business deals with the state. A by-election will be held on 14 March to fill Suleiman's parliamentary seat in the downtown Cairo district of Gammaliya.
