The Cairo criminal court also sentenced Souad el-Kholy, deputy governor of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, to a one-year sentence for bribery, profiteering and squandering public funds on Wednesday.
At the same time, the court acquitted five local businessmen in the same case. El-Kholy is constitutionally allowed to appeal the verdict against her. The Administrative Control Authority (ACA) – the regulatory body responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies – has ordered the arrest of numerous officials over the last two years, within the framework of the president’s fight against corruption.
She became Alexandria’s deputy governor in 2015 and was arrested two years later, in October 2017, in a case linked to illegal seizures of state land, illegal construction and building violations.
She is the most senior female official to be arrested on corruption charges.
President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi has always stressed on applying strict measures within the government institutions to crack down corruption.