Egypt

MB businessman detained 45 days pending investigation

Giza Criminal Court on Saturday accepted prosecution’s appeal against a decision to release Muslim Brotherhood (MB) business mogul Hassan Malek on bail of LE20,000.

The court ordered Malek and other suspects be detained again for 45 days pending investigations into charges of damaging the national security and economy.

Malek is being investigated over his affiliation with the outlawed MB group and the financing of its activities, also black market manipulations that caused the Egyptian pound’s value to decline during 2015.

The businessman is accused of being behind the recent currency market crisis that apparently forced Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) governor Hisham Ramez to be replaced in October 2016.

The National Security Agency said Malek, along with other suspects, had agreed with an exchange office in Cairo to extensively buy and withhold US dollars to induce a foreign currency crisis.

Cairo Criminal Court had released Malek Thursday on LE20,000 bail.

The lawyer of Malek called for the release of the defendant, citing the fact that his client has been detained pending investigation for two years.

Edited translatin from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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