Rashid Mohamed Rashid Arabic: رشيد محمد رشيد Born: 1955 Rashid Mohamed Rashid served as Egypt's Minister of Foreign Trade and Industry from July 2004 until January 2011, when he was ousted as part of a cabinet shuffle intended to appease demonstrators during the beginning of Egypt's January 25 Revolution. Rashid was the first businessman to be nominated to the Egyptian cabinet. Before joining the government, Rashid was a multinational entrepreneur and worked with the London-based Unilever to open Egypt to international trade and investment. Rashid received a BS Mechanical Engineering from Alexandria University in 1978. He then attended various management programs in the United States over the next 18 years. On February 4, 2011 Rashid's accounts were frozen by Egypt's Attorney General and he was banned from traveling. Despite this, Rashid fled the contry. He was sentenced in absentia to five years imprisonment for embezzling public funds and was ordered to return 9.3 million EGP (U.S. $1.5 million) to the government, Rashid was also accused of using his governmental position to subsidize food export industries in which he was a shareholder. Interpol has issued an arrest warrant for various fugitives of Egypt's former regime, including Rashid.
