Giza Criminal Court postponed on Monday its review of the Ezz Steel case to 1 November.
Former National Democratic Party Organization Secretary Ahmed Ezz and former Industry Minister Ibrahim Hemdan face charges of illegal acquisition of wealth and intentional squandering of LE5 billion of public money.
The court disregarded a request to change the panel of judges. The Court of Cassation did not receive the request for the change within the legally acceptable period of time, which led the court to dismiss the demand.
According to investigations, Hemdan helped Ezz acquire the then state-owned Ezz Steel between 1999 and 2001 in violation to the law.
Investigations also revealed that Hemdan gave Ezz financial privileges and exempted him from fines, allowing him to make profits of more than LE687.4 million.
Investigations further revealed that with the help of other officials from the company, Ezz made profits of more than LE4.8 billion between 2010 and 2011.
Ezz was arrested on February 24.
Ezz, a steel magnate who has monopolized Egypt's steel industry through three companies, was close to former President Hosni Mubarak’s son Gamal.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
