Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his family hired a defense lawyer to represent them in court against charges of profiteering and facilitating the acquisition of public funds, said Attorney General Spokesman Adel al-Saeed on Thursday. Al-Said told reporters that an employee from the South Sinai notary office went to the Mubarak family residence at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh Wednesday. He went on to say that Mubarak and all of his family members personally signed paper authorizing the lawyer to represent them in court and that these papers were sent to Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud's office together with their investigation papers. Mahmoud had asked all banks operating in Egypt to provide him with information on the assets of Mubarak, his wife and two sons' families as they face investigations of illegally acquired wealth. Mahmoud had also earlier issued a travel ban on Mubarak and his immediate family and ordered that their assets be frozen. A statement from the attorney general's office said the investigation includes cash, real estate, stocks and other securities at banks and companies inside Egypt. The attorney general has also ordered a freeze on Mubaraks' assets abroad and asked the Egyptian Foreign Ministry to contact judicial authorities overseas to take any necessary measures. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
