Egypt anti-graft agency to question Mubarak for first time

Investigators in Sharm al-Sheikh to question ousted president and wife on accusations of using influence to accumulate massive wealth.

By REUTERS
Mubarak 311 Reuters (photo credit: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah )
Mubarak 311 Reuters
(photo credit: REUTERS/Amr Abdallah )
CAIRO - Egypt's anti-graft agency will interrogate former president Hosni Mubarak and his wife for the first time on Thursday evening, to examine charges they enriched themselves illegally, the state news agency said.
An investigation team has moved to the Sinai resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh where Mubarak and his wife Suzanne are staying, the agency said, quoting Assem el-Gohari, a senior justice ministry official.
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"Gohari said the team of investigators will begin the first session of its investigations with Mubarak and his wife this evening," the MENA report said.
"The two face accusations that they took advantage of the president's influence to accumulate massive wealth not commensurate with their legally established sources of income".
Some media reports have suggested the Mubarak family's wealth may total billions of dollars. Such claims were a major rallying point for anti-government protesters in a country where some 40 percent of the population live on less than $2 per day.
Mubarak, who has denied wrongdoing, was first detained on April 13 and has been in a hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh since he suffered health problems under initial questioning by officials from the public prosecutor's office.
The graft investigation team will release a statement shortly after they finish the session on Thursday, the news agency said.
Mass demonstrations forced Mubarak to step down on Feb. 11 after three decades in power. Egypt's foreign ministry told its embassies in the Arab world and Western countries on Feb. 22 to freeze the assets of the toppled leader and his family.
Switzerland's Foreign Ministry said earlier this month the country had found 410 million Swiss francs ($462.5 million) traced to Mubarak.