By Tom Perry and Edmund Blair/Reuters
CAIRO: Egypt’s public prosecutor on Monday told the foreign ministry to seek a freeze on the foreign assets of Hosni Mubarak and his family, the first sign that the former president would be held to account by the military leadership to whom he handed power.
The prosecutor said in a statement he had asked the foreign ministry to use diplomatic channels to request a freeze on foreign assets and accounts held by Mubarak, his wife Suzanne and his two sons, Gamal and Alaa, together with their wives.
A legal representative for Mubarak denied media reports that the former president had amassed enormous wealth in office, the official MENA news agency reported on Sunday.
“The former President Hosni Mubarak has submitted his final financial statement to the concerned judicial bodies according to the law,” said the legal representative to Mubarak, according to the report.
Since mass protests forced Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11, handing power to the army, some media reports have suggested the former president’s wealth may have amounted to billions of dollars. Some anti-Mubarak protesters demanded that he be held accountable for squandering the nation’s wealth.