CAIRO: Helmy Zein El Dein, deputy housing minister, is under investigation for squandering public funds, facilitating their appropriation and profiting from his post.
Zein El Dein, who acts as the housing minister s deputy for external funding and presides over the Cooperative Union for Central Housing, faces a total of eight charges that fall under the three categories of squandering, facilitating appropriation and profiting from an official post, if found guilty, he could face a prison sentence of five to 15 years.
The public prosecutor ordered that Zein El Dein’s and his family s money and properties be sequestrated. Zein El Dein is prohibited from leaving the country.
Current investigations, carried out by the Public Funds Investigation Bureau, revealed several violations, says Brigadier Mohsen El Yammani of the bureau.
Some of the violations pertain to Zein El Dein s union post. All housing associations (an estimated 4,000 or more in the country) report to the union, whose authority includes invalidating any of the association s boards. The union also provides arbitration between the associations and contractors in matters of dispute.
Violations in this regard include changing tender announcements and results to suit offers by companies owned by his friends and family and manipulating arbitration results in favor of one party over the other, El Yammani explains.
In regard to his post in the ministry, Zein El Dein was found in violations of laws prohibiting family-owned businesses from signing government contracts.
Contracts were found between the union and the ministry on one side and East for Automobiles Supplies and Transportation on the other. Zein El Dein and his family are stakeholders in the company, in which his brother Khaled Zein El Dein acts as chairman.
After checking East s financial papers, El Yammani continues, investigations revealed that the company has done LE 2.5 million worth of car repairs on the ministry s vehicles over a period of four to six months.
Khaled Zein El Dein could face five years in prison if found guilty of the charges of appropriating public funds. According to officials, citizens can be charged with public funds crimes if they sign contracts with the government of LE 50,000 or more. Also, since state-owned banks hold stakes in East, the company falls under the public funds department.
Zein El Dein had earlier claimed, according to El Yammani, that East has only done LE 28,000 worth of car repairs for the ministry. He also claimed that papers documenting such deals were missing and the employee responsible for them was under investigation.
This contract first brought Zein El Dein into the spotlight. Investigating a complaint filed by a union arbitrator that Zein El Dein had fired, the public funds bureau uncovered numerous violations.
The initial complaint stated that Zein El Dein had awarded the car repair contract to a company in which he was a stakeholder. Later, it was discovered that his brother chaired the board of the company.
So far, investigations have identified a number of Zein El Dein s properties: LE 15 million in bank accounts, three chalets in the North Coast resort Marina and four farms. Officials expect to find more assets through further investigation.
Reportedly, Zein El Dein has admitted to owning over LE 100 million worth of assets, which he claimed he had acquired by permissible means.
