Egyptian court freezes assets and puts dozens on no-fly list

The Cairo Criminal Court issued an order on Sunday to freeze the assets of Mubarak-era Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly and officers of twelve security units. All were also placed on a non-fly list.

The same court dropped charges against 90 such units, police officers and employees in the same case, after reaching a “reconciliation agreement” with a judicial commission and returning the money they had received. The court decision was the culmination of an investigation known as the “Interior Ministry Corruption Case” which was opened in 2012.

At the time, investigative judge Mohamed Abdel-Rahman ordered a travel ban for Al-Adly and more than one hundred security officers “pending investigation” for periods ranging from six months to a year. The defendants were accused of seizing more than two billion Egyptian pounds (more than $260 million), during Adly’s time in office as interior minister. The ex-minister himself is accused of “abusing his office” by paying incentives to unknown persons. His defence attorney criticised the court’s decision, saying that it has no legal grounds for making the order.