After 22 years as a fugitive, businesswoman has returned to Egypt, reports Gamal Essam El-Din , 62, dubbed the "Iron Lady" by the press, appeared in court on Sunday, smiling and looking calm and self-confident. Abdel-Moneim, a businesswoman who has been on the run for 22 years, was arrested Friday morning at Cairo International Airport following her surprise return from Greece. Abdel-Moneim said she had returned to Egypt to face trial and prove that she is not guilty. "I wanted to come back because Egypt is my country and this is where my family lives," said Abdel-Moneim. "I cannot stay outside my country forever and it is better to come back alive rather than in a wooden coffin like actress Soad Hosni or politician-cum-businessman Ashraf Marwan. I am innocent and have returned voluntarily to spend the rest of my life with my family." Abdel-Moneim fled Egypt in 1987 after being convicted of fraud. She reportedly embezzled up to LE600 million in loans from four Egyptian banks. She was twice sentenced in absentia, in 1996 and 2000, and faces up to 74 years in prison. On Saturday Prosecutor-General Abdel-Meguid Mahmoud ordered a retrial of Abdel-Moneim. Standing before North Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday, Abdel-Moneim pleaded not guilty, asserting that she had repaid LE587 million to the four banks and back tax to the government. Her lawyer, Ragaai Attia, told the court that Abdel-Moneim no longer owes a penny. He insisted Abdel-Moneim had never committed a fraudulent act and demanded a retrial. "I would draw the public's attention to the 2000 Court of Cassation ruling overturning the judgement against my client," said Attia asserted. North Cairo Criminal Court ordered that Abdel-Moneim remain in custody pending her retrial before Cairo Appeals Court. Abdel-Moneim's saga began in 1980 when she set up Hodaco Misr, an investment company. The company launched a massive promotion campaign for deluxe housing projects in the up-market Cairo suburbs of Heliopolis and Maadi, and in Al-Haram in Giza. The company received millions of pounds in down-payments from people seeking to reserve flats in the housing project and obtained a LE20 million loan from the Egyptian Land Bank and the Suez Canal Bank. In 1983, however, Abdel-Moneim began facing troubles when complaints were lodged with the socialist prosecutor-general (SPG), accusing her of forging the documents used to secure the loans and of failing to deliver property to those who had paid for it. The SPG ordered the sequestration of Abdel-Moneim's property and she was banned from travelling pending investigations. Abdel-Moneim managed to flee the country under mysterious circumstances. She was dubbed the Iron Lady by the local press who accused her of exploiting her connections with influential officials in order to flee the country. The local press and the People's Assembly speculated at the time about who helped her abscond, with accusing fingers pointed at late minister of the interior Zaki Badr. Badr faced a barrage of hostile questions in parliament, with opposition MPs wondering how the airport authorities had failed to recognise Abdel-Moneim, whose face had been plastered across the press for weeks. Subsequently a film was made about the affair, under the title Hoda and His Excellency the Minister. Badr was dismissed in 1990. Major-General Fouad Allam, a former head of the State Security Service, says "it was widely rumoured that by 1996 the authorities knew that Abdel-Moneim was living in Athens. "There have been attempts to detain her through Interpol but they have failed, suggesting that she continues to enjoy the protection of some influential people," says Allam. Police say Abdel-Moneim used a forged passport in the name of Safiya Mohamed Sallam to flee Egypt in 1987, and did so wearing Islamic garb. In Greece, where she ran five shipping companies, she changed her name to Safiya. Abdel-Moneim's return is seen by some commentators as evidence that a deal has been done between the authorities and the cabal of high-profile business people who fled Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s owing more than LE15 billion. Mustafa El-Said, a former economy minister and chairman of parliament's Economic Affairs Committee, told Al-Ahram Weekly that "there is a growing belief among officials of the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif that businesspeople who fled the country should be encouraged to return and repay their debts". El-Said believes that negotiations are underway with five such fugitives, the aim being to allow them to return and settle outstanding loans and to provide guarantees that they will not face prosecution. "What is important now is not how these people fled the country, but how they can be convinced to come back and repay the money they owe," argues El-Said. Rami Lakah, the 45-year-old tycoon who fled to France, has recently reached a deal with Banque du Caire under which he will repay up to LE700 million exchange and all charges against him dropped.
