Cairo - Once

again, the phenomenon of swindling Egyptians has returned in the name of investing money, the latest of which was the fall of a fraudster in the Edfu Center in the Aswan Governorate in the south, after he collected hundreds of millions of pounds from the people on the pretext of employing them in the livestock trade.

A state of anger dominated the villages and hamlets of Aswan Governorate during the past few days, after the people fell victim to a swindling operation led by a "tuk-tuk" driver named "Mustafa Al-Bank", known to the media as "Mestreeh Aswan".

The new "restorer", a 35-year-old who had previously been imprisoned in several criminal cases, managed to seize huge funds amounting to between 500 million and two billion pounds, according to the people's accounts, and 200 million pounds, according to a statement by the Ministry of the Interior.

The name “Al-Mustareeh” is due to the case of the swindler Ahmed Mustafa and his fame as “Ahmed Al-Mustareeh”, who seized millions of pounds from citizens, was arrested in mid-2015 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Since then, the media has been calling "relaxed" to those who defraud citizens under the pretext of investing and operating their money in return for large monthly profits.

"I borrowed 200 thousand pounds" .. One of the victims tells the details of his experience with "# Resting Aswan" # Mostafa_Bank pic.twitter.com/ypKudiYZGw

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) May 16, 2022

greed and heartbreak

"It's all gone, it's all gone," one of the Aswan victims repeats with clear sighs, after he lost his money and livestock, which he willingly gave to Mustafa the bank, hoping for the imaginary profits he promised him.

Mustafa Al-Badri, known as “Mustafa the Bank,” became famous among the people for buying livestock at double prices using the “promise” system, meaning paying the price doubled after 21 days.

Many videos of the quorum spread claiming to distribute profits to the people, which motivated many to trust him and hand over their money to invest, before he stopped paying and suddenly disappeared, and the victims began to gather in front of his house to demand their money that evaporated.

Reports flooded against the quorum, so that the security authorities began to move and arrest him last Thursday after a chase operation that ended with the killing of two police brigades in a traffic accident during their return.

The fall of the Aswan “resting place” was the beginning of the fall of another series of rest who slandered the people in the same way, including Taher Al-Hassawi, who is also from Edfu in Aswan, and seized about 100 million pounds from the citizens, under the pretext of employing them in the car and livestock trade with fantastic profits and returning the money In just 15 days.

After the people gathered and riots and violence took place in the village, the security forces managed on Saturday to seize Al-Hassawi in Giza Governorate with 16 gold bars weighing 10.5 kilograms and sums of money.

And the Egyptian media reported the arrest of 4 swindlers during the past days and the search for 4 others, who had defrauded the people of Aswan in the same way.

The resting phenomenon

And if the name “relaxed” dates back to 2015, the phenomenon of money investment goes back to an earlier time, specifically in the eighties and nineties of the last century, when money recruitment companies spread, the most famous of which were the companies of Al Rayyan, Al Saad and Al Huda.

At the time, these companies were able to collect billions of pounds from citizens with the aim of investing them, and the depositors actually made good profits under the government’s hearing and under the auspices of the media. To the citizens, which took many years, sometimes cash and sometimes goods at exaggerated prices, which caused great losses to depositors.

The controversy still exists about these companies to this day, between those who say that they were defrauding citizens and paying profits from the money of new depositors, and those who say that the government intervened against them to protect the banks that complained about clients withdrawing from them in favor of recruitment companies.

The magic mixture

And between the quorum’s intelligence, the victim’s greed, and the bad economic conditions, lies the magical “relaxing” mixture, where the quorum begins to weave its nets around victims cleverly by promoting his work in a profitable activity or trade and deludes people into paying very high profit rates, which are profits that cannot be obtained through trade methods normal.

The relaxed earns the trust of his victims by giving them the first profits, so that everyone who got the profit begins to propagandize the swindle and attract new victims from his relatives and friends to invest their money.

Soon, the citizens would sell their property of land, real estate, and gold works, to willingly throw it at the comforter, hoping for the astronomical profits he promised them.

Within a few months, the quorum reaches astronomical sums, and the journey of escaping and disappearing from view begins, and at that time the victims realize that their money has gone to waste.

A tuktuk driver in Aswan deludes citizens into investing their money and seizes 200 million pounds from them before the police seize him.. Will the "relaxing" phenomenon continue to appear?

pic.twitter.com/rVJrMrqmZ0

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) May 14, 2022

comfortable for each province

Despite the spread of the phenomenon in many Egyptian governorates and the repeated announcement of the fall of the rest, and despite the great similarity in the methods and methods of monument, the matter is still repeated frequently, whether in villages or cities.

The extent of the phenomenon’s spread is revealed by the huge numbers collected by these people. We mention some examples from the local media in Egypt:

  • The restroom of Minya (Hussain.M), known as Mr. Hussein, seized more than one and a half billion pounds from the people of Minya, claiming that it was invested in the trade and export of marble to China.

  • Mustarih al-Sharqiya (Hosni St.) deceived the people of his village and was able to collect sums of money amounting to one billion pounds, claiming to employ them in commercial projects in return for a profit of up to 50%.

  • Comfortable Menoufia "MAA" managed to seize more than 200 million pounds from the people of Menoufia in exchange for hiring it, before he was arrested, to end his life by committing suicide inside his prison in February 2021.

  • Another relaxed man in Menoufia, known as “Draz,” collected half a billion pounds from his 1,300 victims, claiming that they were invested in advertising companies in the city of Shebin El-Kom.

  • Mushtari al-Gharbia, a doctor who managed to collect 400 million pounds from citizens for employment in a surgical and endoscopic center he established in the city of Kafr El-Zayat, in the Gharbia Governorate, north of Cairo, and was arrested in February 2021.

  • As for the restroom in Tanta, it managed to seize 600 million pounds, claiming to use it in real estate and cars in early 2019.

  • Buhaira restroom received nearly half a billion pounds from citizens, after he deluded them into using it to import equipment for major electricity companies.

The previous models are simple examples of this phenomenon. It is enough to go to the search engine “Google” and type the word “relaxed” to show dozens of similar cases and billions of looted pounds.

A large procession of the cattle of "Edfu resting place" and the governor of Aswan announces the reservation of them until they are sold at a public auction and direct their money to compensate the victims pic.twitter.com/MBoq1xiqfa

- Al Jazeera Egypt (@AJA_Egypt) May 15, 2022

Greed or helplessness?

The question of why citizens resort to this method to invest their money instead of legitimate methods has been the subject of controversy and widespread discussion on social media. While some see it as just greed, others say that the victims have no vision to invest their money in private projects, and citizens do not trust in The existing banking system is the cause of the phenomenon.

While some argue that this phenomenon indicates that the Egyptians own large sums of money, others say that poor economic conditions push the citizen to sell his property and borrow to invest it in this way, in order to obtain a livelihood that covers the rising needs in light of the high prices.

As long as there are people who do not want to work and people who are forbidden to put their money in the bank, a new comfortable person will appear every day, and they will provide


people with small projects on the basis of their money, if God willing, two or three will participate in them together. only their views.

— AHMAD LOTFI (@AHMADLO13219562) May 16, 2022

The money that people gave to the #rester_aswan (and they are more than one in more than one country by the way) was not money under the slab, it was either trade money (livestock mostly) or assets (gold and carts), and people went to the rest of the countries to take livestock from them at a price 30-50% higher than the market, but they pay on credit.

— Ahmed Bahaa El Din (@Ahmadbhaa) May 16, 2022

security inaction

Some denounced the lack of early intervention by the authorities in these cases, and the failure to take any measures against the quorum until after people resorted to submitting reports when the quorum stopped paying and it was discovered that he had escaped with the money he had collected.

Some argue that the authorities do not interfere before submitting reports so as not to be accused of fighting businessmen, while others accuse influential figures in the security authorities and the executive authority of helping and protecting the rest, and some claim that the rest is often a front for important figures.

Others point out that Aswan's resting place built its barns on state lands without being subjected to any accountability, despite his reputation in Aswan and neighboring governorates months ago!

Through my follow-up, it became clear to me that the state was cooperating with these people by its silence about the endowment against them from the beginning, nor knowing the source of their money and allowing them to build on the lands of the Egyptian state without moving from the concerned authorities. Rather, the official channel of the state on the territory of southern Egypt was preparing meetings with them.

— Emission (@3K86SlWhTGYJ5Xz) May 16, 2022

Those who accuse the state of being absent and smoldering are the same ones who will tell you a repressive state and thugs if they arrest him before a catastrophe happens... How do they arrest him when people did not reach their greed blindness and accepted the benefits of their money, knowing that it is forbidden in a forbidden .. Fear God and reform your souls first and the sufficiency of greed and forbidden.


#rest_aswan

— ༄ (777) (@bigheart74) May 16, 2022