CAIRO, (AP) — An Egyptian court has convicted the country's ex-housing minister of corruption and sentenced him to five years in prison.
The official Middle East news Agency said Thursday that Ahmed Maghrabi was found guilty of intentionally damaging public finances by allowing a businessman to illegally acquire state land.
The businessman, Mounir Ghabbour, received a one-year suspended sentence.
The verdicts can be appealed.
Maghrabi was accused of illegally selling 18 acres of state land at cut-rate prices to Ghabbour.
The court ordered them to repay a total of $12 million (72 million Egyptian pounds) and fined them the same amount.
Some two dozen Cabinet ministers and businessmen linked to the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak face corruption charges.
