Egypt’s sacked anti-graft czar slapped with jail term

By Sayyed Fathi and Hussein Mahmoud

CAIRO

An Egyptian court on Thursday sentenced Hisham Geneina, the former head of Egypt’s main government auditing agency, to one year in prison for citing "inaccurate numbers" related to government corruption, a judicial source told Anadolu Agency.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media, said a misdemeanors court had slapped Geneina with one year behind bars and a monetary fine roughly equivalent to $2,000.

Ali Taha, Geneina’s lawyer, told Anadolu Agency that his client planned to appeal the verdict before an appeals court.

Geneina first sparked controversy in January after issuing a report in which he asserted that Egyptian government corruption had cost the country a whopping 600 billion Egyptian pounds (roughly $60 billion) in the period from 2012 to 2015.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reacted to the assertion by drawing up a "fact-finding commission" that accused Geneina of "falsifying information" and "distorting facts".

In late March, the Egyptian presidency dismissed Geneina from his post as head of Egypt’s Central Auditing Authority.

Three months later, upon the orders of Egypt’s Supreme State Security authorities, he was taken into custody pending further investigation and trial.

Geneina’s lawyers have described the campaign against their client as "politically motivated".