CAIRO: Former Egyptian Minister Atef Ebeid and Citadel Capital founder and chairman Ahmed Heikal are banned from leaving the country, the Prosecutor General said in a statement Wednesday. Both are under investigation for charges of illegitimate profit gain, the prosecutor said in a statement posted on its official page on Facebook. Heikal “attained immense financial profits by selling company shares to foreigners for much higher values,” the statement read. Ebeid, who was Egypt's prime minister from 1999 to 2004, is accused of facilitating profiteering and the appropriation of and incurring damages on public funds to Heikal. The statement cited the privatization process that Ebeid oversaw including the selling of the Helwan Portland Cement Company to Heikal “with a very low price.” Heikal is accused of then selling the company “to foreigner for multiples of that price, and thus incurred damages to public money.” Citadel Capital, however, refused to make a statement confirming or denying the Prosecutor General announcement. “We are not sure that the Facebook page is an official page for the Prosecutor General,” said Ghada Hammouda, head of corporate communications at Citadel Capital. The Prosecutor General's Facebook page was set up for the “purpose of communicating with families of the martyrs” of the January 25 Revolution. The page has also been posting news and information regarding Mubarak's house arrest and the recent questioning and detainment of his family.
