The Court of Cassation revoked on Sunday the seven-year jail sentence served to Egyptian steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz for money laundering. In October 2012, Ahmed Ezz was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay over EGP 19bn in fines by a Cairo criminal court. Councillor Ahmed Abdel Rahman accepted the steel tycoon's appeal to the verdict and ordered his retrial. The Sunday session was held at the High Court building. The court also found that Ezz laundered over EGP 6bn, which he was ordered to pay back, as well as additional damages nearly double that amount. The Giza Criminal Court also sentenced Ezz to 37 years in a high security prison in March. He was convicted of profiteering and laundering around EGP 5bn worth of public funds between 2001 and 2011. He was also fined EGP 2bn. Ezz was a prominent figure in former president Hosni Mubarak's now defunct National Democratic Party (NDP). He was also one of the closest allies of Mubarak's son, Gamal, and the two were viewed as the defining figures of the “new guard" within the party. Despite his advocacy for free market policies, Ezz, who was also a member of the lower house of parliament, the People's Assembly, has long been accused of holding a monopoly on the steel market in Egypt.
