Swiss authorities are investigating Alaa Mubarak, the son of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, as well as a number of former officials who allegedly formed a "criminal gang" for money laundering, a high-level Egyptian judicial official said Monday. Assistant Justice Minister Assem al-Gohary, who heads the judiciary committee for restoring smuggled funds, said that among those being investigated are former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana and businessman Yassin Mansour. Gohary said in a statement Monday that the committee hired a Swiss law firm to represent the Egyptian government as a party in the investigation. Gohary said the committee learned that Alaa and Gamal Mubarak have US$340 million (nearly LE2 billion) in Swiss banks, US$300 million of which belongs to Alaa. Gohary went on to say that the committee also discovered a number of important documents, which confirm that fugitive businessman Hussein Salem, his son Khaled and daughter Magda have a massive fortune in a number of countries abroad worth more than LE24 billion. The committee learned this through a number of bank transfers that Salem and his children made abroad after the revolution began. The committee also obtained documents that prove a number of icons of the former regime have fortunes in several countries, according to Gohary. He explained that most of them hid their wealth by creating offshore companies, which are not subject to state laws and are difficult to track. Gohary said the committee got this information in collaboration with a number of financial intelligence agencies and major law firms abroad. He added that the committee is following up on the government's demand that Salem, his son and daughter be extradited to Egypt with the help of a major law firm in Spain. Translated from the Arabic Edition
