Independent member of parliament Gamal Zahran submitted an early day motion to the prime minister and minister of investment about alleged incidences of corruption at the United Bank.
Zahran said that the inspection report by the Central Bank of Egypt published on 29 March 2010 included 179 violations by the United Bank, such as corruption and waste of public money.
In his motion, Zahran mentioned 23 violations. Since 2006, Zahran claims that the bank’s chairperson appointed 21 secretaries with different salary levels. According to Zahran, the bank was unable to make its target profit –of LE613 million–on 31 December 2008, netting a loss of LE481 million the same year. In 2009, the bank’s total loss stood at LE1.962 billion. Twenty-eight percent of the bank’s assets don’t produce revenues, he added. Zahran also claimed that the bank does not have a strategy to attract new clients.
The bank has wasted public money on renovations to the bank and its branches throughout Egypt, and the purchase of new cars to facilitate the transportation of senior officials, according to Zahran. Zahran said that millions of pounds were wasted on bonuses and allowances for senior officials.
Zahran accused the bank of accepting bribes to settle the accounts of prominent businessmen such as Magdi Yacoub. Zahran says the National Democratic Party parliament majority leader was appointed at the bank as an advisor and receives a monthly salary of more than LE100,000. Such appointments violate the constitution, Zahran said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
