The health minister’s consultant for medical centre affairs Ahmed A. was arrested by security forces on Sunday night after the Administrative Prosecution received a tip-off.
The defendant was caught receiving bribes, in the form of cheques for a total of EGP 4.5m, at the ministry headquarters, according to an official statement by the Health Ministry.
Full results are still pending investigation by the prosecution, but the bribe is believed to be from a medical equipment company, the ministry added.
In response, Health Minister Ahmed Emad said: “there is no place for corruption in the ministry no matter what position someone holds; it will not protect them.”
He also referred to the incident as an achievement by the ministry in terms of fighting administrative corruption.
The defendant was reportedly one of Emad’s closest aides. He used to work as a professor at Ain Shams University. During his work at the ministry, Emad mandated him to become responsible for the work related to medical centres.
This comes almost one month after a verdict was issued against ousted agriculture minister Salah Helal to 10 years of imprisonment and a EGP 1m fine on charges of corruption. The case dates back to September 2015 and involved other cabinet officials, which triggered a cabinet reshuffle that resulted in a new health minister.
In January, the local observatory Partners For Transparency (PFT) monitored 138 cases of violations across governmental offices. The Health Ministry ranked the authority with the highest number incidents of corruption during that month, recording 23 incidents.
Among the cases highlighted in the health sector was the referral of 27 medical personnel in Daqahleya for managerial and medical violations.
