Muburaks Billions

The Social Network on the Internet was used to seize power from a government, but the deposed president and his family are said to be worth up to $70 - 100 billion, though only $5 billion was openly confirmed.

Hosni Mubarak loudly declared, "Not to commit myself to what I cannot implement, hide the truth from the people, or be lenient with corruption and disorder," when in 1981 he took over the reins of power in Egypt. This followed the assassination of his boss, Anwar Sadat.

Sadat's half-brother and his sons were jailed and made to pay heavy fines during a crackdown on profiteering. Several dozen high up members of Sadat's inner circle were slapped with criminal charges for misusing their power, alongside other corrupt practices.

However, over the following 3 decades, Murbarak, his family and close circle of advisers, enhanced themselves, as friends were copiously rewarded, while enemies were severely reproved.

A large amount of the family's fortune is reported to be invested in upscale real estate and in offshore bank accounts in Europe. This is over and above homes in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh, where the president and his family sat it out as his resignation was announced to the worldwide community. They also own property in the upscale Cairo district of Heliopolis and have a six-story mansion in the Knightsbridge area of London, a home close to the Bois de Bologne in Paris and two yachts and property in Beverly Hills, alongside a network of companies.

Some of the wealth is also thought to have been obtained through partnerships with foreign companies, who are required by law to give an indigenous partner a 51% share in any Egyptian operation. "According to this law, any multinational company needs to have a local sponsor, who usually goes through members of the family, or powerful people in the ruling party," Aladdin Elaasar, the author of ‘Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future' says.

An Egyptian-U.S.A. businessman claims "His sons also ensured that businesses that wanted to operate in Egypt had to pay from 5 percent to 20 percent commission to a company formed by Gamal Mubarak."

Mohammad Ghanam, the most senior official to defect in decades in 2005, fled to Switzerland and commenced a campaign to get Mubarak placed on trial for corruption and human rights abuses, in Belgium's International Court of Justice. "The Mubarak era will be known in the history of Egypt as the era of thieves," said Ghanam, former chairman of the legal research unit in the Egyptian Interior Ministry. "Mubarak's official business is the looting of public money, and we find that the super-corrupt, ultra-delinquents have attained state posts; extreme corruption and treachery throughout the land has caused the current condition of our country".

In 2007 Ghanam was arrested by the Swiss government for ‘dangerousness'. His brother, Ali, in the U.S.A., claims he has been unable to speak to his brother for more than two years and blames the Mubarak regime for the detention.