Cairo: Facing long jail terms, ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's close aides are offering their ill-gotten assets in exchange to be set free.
Ex-Housing Minister Ahmed al-Maghrabi and Egyptian tycoon Ahmed Ezz, who is also a prominent member of the former ruling party, have offered their assets, believed to be running into millions of dollars to stay out of jail, the 'Egypt Independent' reported.
Ezz has been sentenced to ten years in prison and fined equivalent of about USD 11 million for corruption. State-run television said the government, hard-pressed financially, says it is considering the deal which could see the ill-gotten money pumped back into the economy.
In a statement on his website, Head of the North Cairo Criminal Court Hassan Hassanein said a special law must be issued to deal with such cases providing for return of the stolen funds and a fine equal to the amount embezzled.
Though the judge said that the deal could be extended to the tycoon, who was stated to be close to fallen dictator Mubarak and his two sons, the same could not be extended to the Housing Minister.
Backing the deal, Finance Minister Mumtaz Said was quoted as saying: "Getting money back from those in Tora (prison) will be to Egypt's benefit".
But the deal could run into trouble as the caretaker government is wary of infuriating protesters, who ushered in the revolution and are pushing to put the officials on trial. Al-Ahram newspaper reported that during the Mubarak-era, it was estimated that a staggering USD 225 billion were stolen from Egypt.
The paper said it was not clear who else was pushing for a deal and whether they included Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal, both in jail for fraud.
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