Egypt files new charges against Mubarak's last premier
CAIRO | Tue Feb 19, 2013 8:22am EST
(Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor has filed new criminal charges against the last prime minister of ousted President Hosni Mubarak over alleged illegal real estate sales, judicial sources said on Tuesday.
The charges against Ahmed Shafik, who was also the defeated run-off candidate in Egypt's first free presidential election last year, relate to deals struck in 2005.
Shafik, who fled to the United Arab Emirates after losing to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi, was appointed prime minister shortly before Mubarak was overthrown two years ago.
The new charges against Shafik include illegally selling and profiting from the sale of villas belonging to the Airforce Officers' Association, as well as money laundering, the sources said.
The prosecutor also referred charges against Shafik's three daughters to a criminal court in Cairo as the heirs of their mother, Shafik's late wife.
Dozens of legal cases have been opened against Mubarak's associates since he stood down on February 11, 2011 during mass protests. The prosecutors earlier filed charges against Shafik in September last year.
The court has yet to set a date for his trial but the prosecutor has asked a judge to call on the UAE authorities to return Shafik to Egypt.
Egypt's MENA state news agency reported on Tuesday that 10 other members of the Airforce Officers' Association had also been referred to the court for alleged involvement in embezzlement.
Last year a judge ordered that Shafik be detained on his return to Egypt to face accusations of illegally allocating 40,000 square meters of land to Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal.
(Writing by Marwa Awad; editing by David Stamp and Alistair Lyon)
