CAIRO: MP Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah proposed a new law to the People s Assembly (PA), calling for harsher punishments to be imposed in fraud crimes, he told Daily News Egypt. The new law aims at increasing the penalty to a minimum of two years in jail, and seeks to change Article 136 "of the 71-year-old penal code, he said. The current law, Kwaitah said, stipulates a penalty that ranges from 24 hours to three years in jail for fraud. "This penalty is unfair; those criminals steal sums of money that [affect] our economic growth. They waste our economic resources which in turn affects our economic status altogether, he said. Kwaitah in part places the blame on technological advancement, which enabled people to use the internet to wire money or pay bills online, which increases the potential for fraud crimes. His request came on the heels of an investigation carried out by the Ministry of Interior involving broker Nabil Mahmoud El-Boushi, who is facing complaints from high-profile figures, accusing him of fraud. El-Boushi who allegedly pilfered around $68,422 million and ?200,000 from his clients, was arrested earlier this month in Dubai, but was granted bail after he reached a settlement with an Egyptian businessman in an AED 5 million dud check case. The list of El-Boushi's victims allegedly includes actors Hussein Fahmi, Mervat Amin, Leila Elwi and former football star, Mahmoud Al-Khatib, currently vice-president of Al Ahly Club. Fahmi and Amin allegedly lost around $2 million while Elwi lost up to $500, 000, according to a report by Deutsche Presse Agentur.
