CAIRO -

Yesterday, Saturday, a member of the Planning and Budget Committee in the Egyptian Parliament, Amal Abdel Hamid, submitted a question to Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of Justice Omar Marwan regarding the source of the funds of Alaa and Gamal, the sons of the late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, estimated at 400 million Swiss francs, which the Swiss authorities announced the release of. Recently, for the Mubarak family.

According to Egyptian newspapers and websites, Abdel Hamid confirmed that it was important for Mr. Gamal Mubarak to explain to the masses of the Egyptian people the source of this money out of transparency, and is it the product of his own work, he and his brother Alaa?

Or their own projects?

Or as a result of their exploiting the influence of the father who took over the presidency of Egypt for 30 years?

Gamal Mubarak had appeared dramatically last Tuesday, in a precedent, the first since the January 2011 revolution that overthrew his father, to deliver a video statement dedicated to him to comment on what the family called "the successful conclusion of all international judicial procedures for the Mubarak family", after the court decided "The restrictive measures imposed by the Council of the European Union on the family were illegal from the beginning," according to the statement.

Parliamentary question to the Minister of Justice about the source of Alaa and Gamal Mubarak’s money https://t.co/yNXOIAfuqh pic.twitter.com/t6eY81x3hA

- Al-Masry Al-Youm (@AlMasryAlYoum) May 21, 2022

illicit gain

The representative said that Gamal Mubarak hinted in his statement that the measures taken against his family after his father abdicated in February 2011 were not fair, so that the decision of the Swiss authorities came as a remedy for them, and declared the Mubarak family's innocence before history, the homeland and the Egyptian people.

She added that Gamal forgot that he was convicted along with his older brother Alaa and his late father Mubarak in the case known in the media as "Presidential Palaces." The court ruled in 2015 that they were imprisoned for 3 years each with a fine of 125 million pounds, and 21 million pounds were returned to the state treasury, a ruling that supported it. The Court of Cassation in 2016 thus became a final ruling proving the dishonesty of his family’s financial disclosure.

The parliamentarian concluded her speech by saying that she was waiting for Gamal Mubarak to answer the most important point that occupies the mind and mind of every citizen in Egypt, which he neglected to mention in the statement and deliberately did not refer to it, which is the source of these funds, noting that - whether they are private projects or as a result His abuse of his father's influence - it is, in any case, an illegal gain.

Amal Abdel Hamid.. A member of Parliament


asked Gamal Mubarak a question, “We were waiting for Gamal Mubarak to answer the most important point


you have of $430 million after it was released from Swiss banks.


Where did you get this from?


In any case, is it illegitimate gain or the use of influence


like this, dead dead, my goodness # Jamal_Mubarak pic.twitter.com/ner7bszPnN

— adel khedr (@Adel_317) May 21, 2022

next president

Gamal Mubarak's remarkable statement and the first of its kind - which is similar to the official speech and in English - caused widespread controversy on social networking sites in Egypt, with some even calling him the "next president of Egypt".

Jamal's semi-official appearance sparked many speculations about the timing and purpose of his appearance, especially since he had just come from the UAE: Is it a message abroad?

Or whitewash the family page inside?

Some questioned whether the Egyptian authorities would pass the event of Gamal's appearance in this way unnoticed, or would they take a position on it.

Others ruled out that Gamal or Alaa Mubarak would have a political role in Egypt now or in the future because of their conviction in a corruption case, which is the "corruption of presidential palaces" with a final ruling and endorsed by the Court of Cassation, in which they all spent a prison sentence of 3 years, and that their visit to the UAE is nothing more than performing a duty. Condolences to their late father's friend.

On the other hand, others said that Gamal has the right to run in the upcoming presidential elections, 5 years after his release from prison and deprivation of his political rights.

It is noteworthy that the most severe criticism of Gamal Mubarak came through media professionals and pages known to support President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and before him were supportive of President Mubarak, as some of them shared a label offensive to Gamal Mubarak, and the hashtag topped the list of the highest circulation on Twitter, while others launched a label entitled “Gamal Mubarak as President.” for Egypt".

Gamal Mubarak's speech began what appears to be a referendum on the popularity of Sisi and the July 2013 regime on social media.

The result is as you see it.

By the way, the referendum comes after the regime's features, policies and personalities became clear after 9 years of rule.


God knows.

- Alaa Bayoumi - Alaa Bayoumi (@Alaabayoumi) May 18, 2022

Mubarak is not our topic now, do not concern yourselves with it!


The presence of his son in the past worried others, and his picture last night with the background in which he appeared will worry this person, and it is a picture for us more important than the picture of Hamdeen Sabahi lying down!


We will not join hands with Gamal Mubarak, but we will not fight Gamal Mubarak by proxy!


The believer is a clever bag!


#Jamal_Mubarak

— Selim Azzouz (@selimazouz1) May 18, 2022

#Gamal_Mubarak_emergence#


prefabricated


civil


alternative

- May Azzam (@mayazzam_) May 18, 2022

Unfreeze

The General Court of the European Union decided last April to cancel the decisions to freeze the funds of Mubarak and his family that were previously taken by the Council of the Union, issued in 2011, and which continued to renew until last year regarding restrictive measures directed against some persons, entities and bodies in light of the situation in Egypt.

The decision included canceling the restrictive measures against Suzanne Thabet, the wife of the late president, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and their wives, Heidi Razek and Khadija Al-Gammal, which means lifting the freeze on their funds.

The court also ruled that the Council of the European Union should bear the litigation costs incurred by the Mubarak family, and the court did not reveal the amount of funds that will be lifted, and which will be available after the expiry of the Council’s appeal against the court’s decision, which is 70 days.

Millions or billions?

There is no accurate estimate of the size of the Mubarak family’s money or their whereabouts, and the family did not announce any data in this regard, but according to Al-Jazeera Net follow-up, some reports issued in February 2011, days after Mubarak stepped down from power in which he spent 30 years revolved around the number 14 billion dollars, while other reports amounted to 40 billion dollars, according to what was reported by the German “Deutsche Welle” website, quoting Daniel Telesclave, director of the Swiss Basel Institute for Governance and a member of the Board of Directors of Transparency International.

In turn, the British newspaper, The Guardian, went even further, and said in a report published on February 4, 2011 that the Mubarak family's fortune could reach about $70 billion.

In April, the Swiss prosecutor announced the release of the rest of the funds of the late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and a number of those around him, which were frozen in its banks as part of an investigation that lasted about 11 years, and related to money laundering and organized crime linked to the Mubarak regime.

Swiss prosecutors said they would release 400 million francs ($429 million) frozen in the country's banks after prosecutors failed to charge anyone for lack of information.

Prior to this decision, more than 210 million Swiss francs ($224 million) had already been released at an early stage in the case.

Last February, foreign newspapers published leaks indicating the existence of dozens of secret accounts of officials from several countries in the Swiss bank Credit Suisse, including Alaa and Gamal Mubarak.

And the Swiss newspaper, Le Matin Dimanche, confirmed that about 300 million dollars (227 million euros) of Egyptian funds frozen in Switzerland are deposited in accounts in the “Credit Suisse” bank in Geneva. 40% of the 700 million Swiss francs of money that Switzerland has frozen in its banks.