Former Egypt dictator Hosni Mubarak's sons stashed 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in Credit Suisse accounts: report

Former Egypt dictator Hosni Mubarak's sons stashed 'hundreds of millions of dollars' in Credit Suisse accounts: report
Former Egypt President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown after a popular revolt in 2011.
3 min read
21 February, 2022
Alaa and Gamal Mubarak spent several years in jail [Getty]

The sons of former Egypt President Hosni Mubarak have been named in an alleged leak of Credit Suisse clients, stashing hundreds of millions of dollars in Swiss accounts and millions of Egyptians were plunged into poverty.

Mubarak's sons Alaa and Gamal were among the list of alleged Credit Suisse clients released late on Sunday, which included other figures linked to the former Egyptian regime.

Thousands of "criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians" were revealed in the leak released by an international media consortium, which included The Guardian and The New York Times.

Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were clients of the bank for several decades, with accounts including a joint one set up in 1993.

An account that allegedly belonged to Alaa had amassed a 232m CHF (£138 million) fortune by 2010, a year before the Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak was overthrown.

Credit Suisse Leaks in MENA

The brothers had a maximum balance of $277,220,932 ($302 million) in the Swiss accounts, according to the "Suisse Secrets" leak.

The amount stands in start contrast with the minimum wage in Egypt which is due to go up to $174 a month, while one-third of the country lives in poverty.

The country is also heavily in debt, with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi enacting a series of austerity measures hitting Egypt's poorest hardest. 

The lawyers of the brothers said their accounts were "frozen" for over a decade and that Swiss authorities were investigating the cases.

"[They] told OCCRP that neither Swiss nor Egyptian investigations have found any evidence of suspicious activity in their Swiss assets," the website said.

Following the Arab Spring revolution, Hosni, Alaa, and Gamal Mubarak were jailed for several years for embezzlement and corruption. In addition to mass corruption, the Mubarak regime was responsible for the jailing, torture, and disappearance of thousands of suspected dissidents.

This mass repression has continued under the current regime of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

The brothers were released from jail after a $17.6 million settlement with the Egyptian government, without an admission of guilt.

Other figures linked to the Mubarak regime were also named in the leak.

Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a billionaire linked to Mubarak, who was jailed for hiring a hitman to murder Egyptian singer Suzanne Tamim, was named. His Credit Suisse account was closed in 2014.

Billionaire Hussein Salem, a close Mubarak ally who died in exile facing money laundering charges, was also a client of the Swiss bank with a maximum balance of around $114,237,013, according to the site.

Mubarak's henchman Omar Suleiman - responsible for overseeing Egypt's feared intelligence agency - was also named on the list with a fortune of around$ 69,502,311.

Suleiman, who acted as Mubarak's right-hand man, oversaw Egypt's secret police and intelligence agencies, which were responsible for the torture of thousands of dissidents. He died in the US in 2012.