The United Bank requested the Egyptian House of Representatives to lift immunity off member of parliament Khaled Beshr to take legal action against him in order to collect his debt worth EGP 32.03m.
The bank said in its request to the parliament that Beshr had obtained several credit facilities for several years, which resulted in debt worth up to about EGP 32.03m, besides revenues, commissions, and expenses until the full repayment of his debts.
The bank added that Beshr failed to pay his dues to the bank on time and that all friendly attempts did not succeed in making him repay.
The bank said that Beshr had issued cheques for the bank with the amount of his dues, and when the bank submitted the first five cheques, they bounced. The bank then filed case no. 42,782 in 2013, and Beshr was sentenced to prison by the court of Zagazig.
Even though those verdicts are enforceable by law, Beshr used his immunity as a member of parliament to halt the implementation of those verdicts. This is considered an assault on state funds, since the money does not belong to the bank, but originally consists of depositors funds and funds of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) which owns 99.9% of the United Bank, according to the bank.
The parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee confirmed that Beshr offered cheques to the United Bank to repay debt worth EGP 212,450. These cheques were dishonoured.
The committee said in a report that the bank’s management is arbitrarily moving against Beshr, which made Beshr pay the amount and necessary fees in court.
For his part, Beshr explained to the parliament that the issue between him and the bank has been pending in court before entering the parliament. He added that the bank refused to receive the payment and in order to preserve the reputation of the parliament, he had deposited the amount due in court.
In response to Beshr, the United Bank said it has already refused to take the amount of EGP 212,450 from Beshr in order to urge him to pay the total value of the 25 cheques issued by him, not only the five checks that he wants to pay.
The bank confirmed that the request to lift the immunity is not malicious, obstinate, or abusive against Beshr, and only aims to receive the banks’ dues.
