Mubarak sons face charges over stock market fraud

The two sons of Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak will face charges of stock market manipulation, the public prosecutor said on Wednesday, three days before a court was due to issue a verdict in a separate trial for their role in alleged corruption.

Gamal and Alaa Mubarak are already standing trial with their father in a case in which the former president is facing charges of graft, as well as complicity in the killing of protestors who rose up against him last year. The verdict in that trial is expected on Saturday.

Mubarak's eldest son, Alaa, is a businessman. His youngest son, Gamal, a former banker, was widely viewed as a being groomed for Egypt's top job until Mubarak was toppled on February 11, 2011. Both are in their 40s.

Mubarak, his family and his aides and associates were accused by protesters of amassing wealth illegally while leaving swathes of the country in poverty.

Egypt's public prosecutor said in a statement Alaa, Gamal and seven others, were referred to the criminal court on charges of violating stock market and central bank rules to gain unlawful profits through dealings in shares in Al Watany Bank of Egypt, a listed bank.

All those accused in the case were released on bail and barred from travel, except Gamal and Alaa, who were ordered to remain in detention and had their assets frozen pending the trial.

The public prosecutor's statement said that others referred to trial alongside Mubarak's sons included Yasser El Mallawany and Hassan Heikal, board members and joint chief executives officers of Egyptian investment bank EFG-Hermes.

The trial of Mubarak, 84, and his two sons began on August 3. It is the first time that an Arab head of state, ousted in a popular uprising, has appeared for trial in an ordinary court. Tunisia's ousted president was tried in absentia while Iraq's toppled Saddam Hussein stood trial in a special court.
 

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