The wealth of former President Hosni Mubarak has been a contentious topic since his ousting last year.
A complaint has allegedly been filed at the Central Auditing Agency claiming Hosni Mubarak currently has two bank accounts in the Egyptian Central Bank filled with public funds. The accounts reportedly contain more than EGP 55 billion, according to El Shorouk newspaper, who cited an unnamed source.
Hesham Shamlool, a member of the movement “Watchdogs against Corruption” said that there is no truth to the report of Mubarak having access to those bank accounts.
“Mubarak does not own these accounts, he has given himself the right to control the money and there is a difference,” Shamlool said. He said that since Mubarak was ousted on 11 February 2011, he no longer controlled the money.
According to Shamlool, while Mubarak does not own the money and the money cannot be retrieved unless he approves of the decision. Still, Shamlool said that at least “one or two billion were spent.” Shamlool said Mubarak’s control over the money goes against ‘financial protocol’ and thinks that it is very unlikely for newly elected President Morsi to have control over the money.
According to Shamlool most of this money came from Gulf countries in the early 1990s. They were given to “support the Egyptian economy,” he added.
Asked about any real figures about the fortune Mubarak is said to have amassed in the past few years, Shamlool said that a committee from the Ministry of Justice and from the Illicit gains Authority are looking into that. However, Shamlool believes that until serious efforts are taken, the “Egyptian government itself will never find out.”
Reports on how much wealth Mubarak has amassed have varied greatly. Amid the differing reports, no one really knows how much Mubarak really has accrued over the years.
