CAIRO: A well-known Egyptian businessman and several public bank officials were handed heavy prison sentences Monday in one of the country s highest-profile corruption cases, judicial sources said. Car dealer Hossam Aboul Fotouh was sentenced to 10 years in prison for receiving unguaranteed loan facilities totaling LE 1.4 billion ($243 million). Most of the loans were granted by Banque du Caire, Egypt s third largest public bank. Bank officials Samia Mohammed Sabbur and Fouad Rasmi were sentenced to 15 and 10 years in prison respectively. Three other bank officials were handed prison sentences as part of the same trial and five other people were acquitted. The case involving Banque du Caire and Aboul Fotouh broke out in late 2002 and was the most publicized of a string of scandals in which public bank officials and businessmen conspired to embezzle public funds. Police raids at the time had led to the discovery of a garage in the plush Cairo suburb of Maadi which Aboul Fotouh had done up for orgies. Tapes showing him engaged in sex with a famous belly dancer, a singer and several actresses had been found, as well as firearms for which he had no permits. AFP
Heavy jail terms handed down in corruption case
