The Public Funds Prosecution Office launched an investigation on Thursday into a corruption case in which a number of government officials, including MPs, are accused of taking bribes in exchange for approving state-funded medical treatment for individuals who would not otherwise have been approved. Prosecutors have summoned officials from the Administrative Oversight Agency, the Health Ministry and the Central Accounting Agency to hear testimony regarding a report on the matter prepared by these officials. Prosecutors are currently investigating 20 Health Ministry employees accused of working with parliamentary deputies to approve funding for treatment cases. In exchange, ministry employees received promises that that their relatives would be given coveted appointments at government companies. The Interior Ministry stated that it had sent its investigation report to Attorney General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, who will then refer it to the Public Funds Prosecution Office. The ministry also sent a copy of the report to People's Assembly Speaker Fathi Sorour. The 20-page report details how 35 People's Assembly and Shura Council members broke the law by approving state money for fraudulent medical treatment. According to the report, the deputies involved come from the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), the Muslim Brotherhood and the Wafd Party. The report also notes that one accused deputy is a high-ranking NDP official. A source at the Interior Ministry, however, has said that only 15 deputies would be investigated. The Interior Ministry report notes that violations included approval of medical treatment in which the state paid some ten times the normal treatment cost. MPs requested that such cases be transferred to private hospitals so the “over-pay” could be divided between themselves and hospital officials. The report cites one case in which a deputy from the Delta region made nearly LE40 million through the practice. In addition, the report states that “deputies approved treatment for people who did not exist, while others obtained treatment on false documents.” The report goes on to state that an agent working for an advertising company had obtained LE25 million by working with three MPs from three different governorates to obtain state money for medical treatment under false pretenses. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
