Judge drops embezzlement charges against 90 Interior Ministry officials

A judge has dropped charges of embezzlement against 90 Interior Ministry officials and administrative staff after they returned millions that they received in bonuses between 2000 and 2011, according to media reports.

The judge ruled on Thursday that the ministry employees had not committed a crime after they admitted to receiving the sums as bonuses that had been authorized by the minister. In dropping the charges, the judge also lifted a travel ban that had been imposed on them.

Talking to Al-Masry Al-Youm, the judge said that the 90 accused had returned a total of LE178 million. The amounts paid back varied for each individual, with one reportedly returning LE20 million.

However, former Interior Minister Habib Adly and 12 other ministry officials are still facing embezzlement charges in the same case, having been referred to trial earlier this month. The trial, which starts on February 7, will see them accused of misappropriating over LE2 billion in total.

Among those cleared of wrongdoing on Thursday were Mohsen al-Fahham, former head of the State Security Investigations Service, who has returned over LE37 million. Meanwhile, Ismail al-Shaer, the former head of Cairo Security, handed back over LE10 million in return for the charges against him being dropped.

In 2012, Shaer was cleared of charges of killing protesters during the 2011 revolution, charges that he faced along with former President Hosni Mubarak.