Egypt

Auditing official: US$9 billion of Mubarak funds frozen in Central Bank

Ousted President Hosni Mubarak stored over US$9 billion currently frozen in three secret Central Bank accounts, said an official with the Central Auditing Authority (CAA) on Thursday.

Former CAA head Assem Abdel Moety told privately owned Youm7 Thursday that $8.7 billion of the funds began to be deposited in the first of Mubarak's personal accounts in 1992.

The money was deposited in this account following Egypt's devastating 1992 earthquake, Abdel Moety said, implying that the account was opened to receive donations intended for earthquake victims.

Abdel Moety went on to say that the second account holds a $376 million grant from the Kuwaiti government to develop Egyptian schools, and that the third account holds $104 million.

The CAA sent a letter to the Central Bank in May requesting information on Mubarak's accounts, and the bank replied that they had been frozen, Abdel Moety added.

Abdel Moety said he had been given documents indicating that an estimated $4 million was removed from the accounts prior to the uprising that forced Mubarak from power early last year.

Egyptian news outlets have previously reported that Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years, has billions of dollars in accounts abroad, as well as other assets. In an audio recording aired on Al Arabiya news channel in April, Mubarak denied having any money or assets abroad.

Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adly and six senior security officials are currently standing trial on charges of involvement in killing protesters during the 25 January uprising. The former president, his sons Alaa and Gamal, and businessman Hussein Salem are also standing trial on various corruption charges.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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