Egyptian business tycoon Hussein Salem has told local TV channel ONTV that his payment of almost $596 million was a “donation” to the government and not part of a “reconciliation deal” to have a travel ban and corruption charges lifted. Salem fled from Egypt to Spain after the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. He was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison and fined over $4 billion for money laundering and profiteering.
In Saturday’s interview, Salem’s family told presenter Amr Adeeb that all of the charges against the family are false. They claim to be in an unstable financial situation, living on money borrowed from friends, and that Salem struggled to get enough money to pay for his son’s funeral. He has been trying to return to Egypt since 2013 and earlier this year reached an agreement with the Egyptian government to give up 75 per cent of his wealth.
In a wide-ranging discussion, Salem also insisted that the Muslim Brotherhood is the main cause of what he and his family are suffering from. The movement, claimed the former ally of Hosni Mubarak, orchestrated the 25 January Egyptian Revolution, “along with Qatar.” The “uprising was rectified” by the 30 June 2013 military coup, he added.
The Salem family own one hotel in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh and another in Luxor, which they plan to run if they return to Egypt.