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State Council official held in custody over bribe allegations Large sums of money and gold accessories were seized from the official's house during a Tuesday raid
The State Security Prosecution ordered the detention of the official in charge of purchasing in the State Council in addition to two others for four days pending investigations into charges of bribery, reported state-run newspaper Al-Ahram. The official and two others are facing charges that they received bribes in the forms of large sums of money and gold. Al-Ahram stated that both were seized on Tuesday from the official's residence. The official, Gamal Ibrahim El-Laban, was arrested from his residence on Tuesday morning after the Administrative Control Authority (ACA) searched his residence. During the search, the ACA seized EGP 24m, $4m, 2m euros, and SAR 1m and gold accessories in addition to vehicles and real estate assets. Following his arrest, the accused official was referred to the State Security Prosecution for investigation after it was asserted El-Laban received the sums of money and other valuables through bribery. In November, the State Security Prosecution decided to refer a high-ranking judge to the Alexandria Criminal Court over charges of obtaining a financial bribe to acquit a defendant accused in a drug trade case. The judge and five other defendants are awaiting the completion of the investigation. Three of the defendants stand accused of bribery, while the other two defendants are being investigated for mediating the bribe. The judge would have reportedly received EGP 650,000 to secure the release of a defendant in the aforementioned drug case. The prosecution authorities arrested the judge and the other defendants while they were meeting to finalise the bribe. According to MENA, the arrested judge received EGP 250,000 during the meeting, which was held in a coffee shop in Alexandria.
