CAIRO: Egypt’s former tourism minister Zoheir Garranah was sent to prison for five years for squandering public funds, a judicial source said on Tuesday.A criminal court found Garranah guilty of selling public land in the Red Sea region below its market value to two businessmen, the source said.Garranah was one of many former officials investigated for corruption after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak on Feb. 11 in a popular uprising.
Among those in custody are former prime minister, the speakers of parliament’s two chambers and Mubarak’s two sons, also have been detained on suspicion of corruption.Also Tuesday, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement that investigators questioned Mubarak, 83, at his hospital in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.Prosecutor General Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud ordered Mubarak’s detention extended for 15 days pending investigation of accusations of illegally amassing wealth and his role in the use of live ammunition against the protesters. – Arabnews
