CAIRO: The Higher Public Funds Prosecution referred Sunday former minister of trade and industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, to court on charges of profiteering from his position to the tune of LE 9 million. The court is set to issue its ruling in absentia if Rachid, who left the country before being issued a travel ban, fails to attend the hearing scheduled for June 25. The charge sheet said that Rachid profiteered from his position as the head of the ministry and as chairman of the Export Development Fund between August 4, 2004 and January 6, 2011 by channeling financial aid from the Fund into companies in which he owns shares and hence profiteering from his position. The prosecution summoned Rachid to court and extended a decision to freeze his assets and suspend him and his wife from access to their bank accounts. Witnesses in his case include officials from the Fund, lawyers from General Authority for Investment and members of the Administrative Monitoring Authority.
