Qasr Al-Nile misdemeanour court is currently considering the appeal filed by Al-Wafd party chairman El-Sayed El-Badawi against the three-year prison sentence he received for cheque fraud.
El-Badawi received the sentence and a fine of EGP 10,000 on Saturday for writing bad cheques to the Egyptian Football Union.
The sentence came after the union filed a complaint against El-Badawi, who is the CEO of Sigma media agency. The complaint stated that when the union representative went to the bank to cash the cheque, he discovered the signature on the cheque did not match the bank’s records.
Moataz Salah, El-Badawi’s media adviser, claimed the case was groundless. He said the problem of the signatures was an unintentional mistake. He added that the cheque was for EGP 766,000 and not EGP 80 million as some media outlets reported.
Salah said he filed a complaint to the south Cairo prosecution, accusing both the chairperson and lawyer of the football union of fraud, saying El-Badawi had already agreed to a reconciliation deal with the union. He accused Ibrahim Elias, the union’s lawyer, of attempting to smear El-Badawi’s reputation. “He is a famous public figure, and Elias, who is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, is trying to tarnish his image,” he said.
Salah added that Azmy Megahed, the director of the football union’s media department, announced on 21 October 2012 that El-Badawi and the union had reached a reconciliation agreement and that the union received its money. He added that Megahed asserted his respect for El-Badawi and said the union would continue working with Al-Hayah TV channel, which is owned by El-Badawi.
The Egyptian Football Union could not be reached for comment.
