Egyptian man held for duping pilgrims

The owner of a tourism agency has been remanded in custody for another 15 days pending an investigation after it was believed that he had seized nearly one million Egyptian pounds ($112,783) from pilgrims applying to complete the Hajj.

Brigade Essam Saad, the manager of the General Department of Investigation, received information about an advertisement published across some newspapers and on the internet which belonged to a fake association called Visitors of the Two Holy Mosques claiming it provides entry visas for pilgrims. People were charged between 50,000 and 75,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,637-$8,456) for the visas.

An investigation revealed that 33-year-old Hossam M.M., owner of a car rental company based in Alexandria, was behind the advert.