Egyptian fugitive tycoon surrenders majority of fortune to authorities

Hussein Salem, a businessman and ally of Egypt's deposed president Hosni Mubarak, has given up 75 percent of his fortune in a deal that will allow him to return to Egypt without facing prosecution.

The head of the Illicit Gains Authority, Adel al-Said, said on Wednesday that the government had made the deal with the tycoon to transfer 75 percent of his wealth to state ownership, including land, agriculture, and hotels.

Saeed said the deal guaranteed that Salem and his family, who also had extensive investments in Red Sea resorts, could return to Egypt without facing prosecution.

State media reported that Egypt's Illicit Gains Authority has recovered 5.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($596.85 million) in the reconciliation deal with the Salem family

Salem was arrested in 2011 under an international warrant in Spain, where he fled in the aftermath of the 18-day popular uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule.

An Egyptian court sentenced him in absentia to seven years in jail and fines totalling more than $4 billion in 2011 after convicting him of money laundering and profiteering.

He later faced further graft-related convictions but was cleared in 2014 of charges related to gas exports to Israel along with Mubarak and a former oil minister.

Salem, who also holds Spanish citizenship, was a major shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas [EMG].

Egyptian opposition groups had long complained that EMG was selling gas at preferential prices to Israel and other countries, depriving Egypt of potential revenues.

The deal is part of a wider reconciliation effort with wealthy businessmen who fled Egypt to avoid corruption charges after the uprising.

Meanwhile, Egypt's president warned this week that "harsh economic measures" are in store for Egyptians to save an economy on the verge of collapse, as the government negotiates a $12 billion loan programme with the International Monetary Fund.