Steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz to be released
There are no more cases for which Egyptian businessman and former politician Ahmed Ezz is being held in prison for, the state-run Ahram Gate reported today, citing an unnamed security source in the prisons department.
Legal procedures are therefore underway for the steel tycoon’s release, the security source said.
Ezz paid LE100 million into the Cairo Court of Appeals treasury yesterday as bail for his release on money laundering charges.
Ezz was put in jail on February 17, 2011, six days after Egypt’s former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down.
As a Mubarak ally and member of the National Democratic Party secretariat, Ezz built his company, Ezz Steel, into the largest steel producer in the Middle East and North Africa through a two-decade acquisition and building spree, according to Bloomberg.
To many, Ezz personified the economic and political corruption of the Mubarak regime. During the 18 day uprising in 2011, his company headquarters were burned down.
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