The immense wealth of Mubarak

The Mubarak family fortune could reach 40 to 70 billion dollars, according to a survey by the Guardian. "A sum difficult to measure because most of its assets is invested in offshore accounts and real estate investments around the world.

the famous American magazine "Forbes" Hosni Mubarak does not cite as one of the first 1000 fortunes of the world, nor even as one of the first in Egypt. And yet. According to information from serious "Guardian", the Egyptian president's family would sleep on a fortune ... 40 to 70 billion dollars (between 29.5 and 51.6 billion euros). More than the Mexican magnate Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world with 53.5 billion dollars, or even Microsoft founder Bill Gates (53 billion), relatively speaking, however, puisqu'individuellement Hosni Mubarak would "only" $ 15 billion-which would put then in the 33rd place, behind Vladimir Lisin (15.8 billion) and to Steven Ballmer (14.5 billion). According to British newspaper, his second son (considered his "heir" but my dad has promised not to make his place in the next election in September) could he, sitting on a fortune of some $ 17 billion. The eldest, Alaa, would not enjoy even half of that amount: $ 8 billion. And Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the man who ruled the country for thirty years, did not have "only" a billion dollars.
However, no "sign of wealth" among Mubarak. At least not as much as the "Clan Ben Ali", whose wealth is inestimable, only that of President Zine el Abidine was estimated by Forbes to at least $ 5 billion in 2008, three times less than his Egyptian counterpart. Some hotels and luxury residences on the coast posh Red Sea (as in the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh), but also in Manhattan and Beverly Hills (Rodeo Drive) for the father ... a sumptuous apartment in the wealthy neighborhood Belgravia in London for Gamal (who has dual nationality, as his mother), two jets and a yacht valued at 60 million euros for Alaa but "nothing completely outrageous" compared to the fortunes of the country * , as pointed out by Robert Springborg, professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and a scholar of the Middle East quoted by ABC News. "There are many others who live in Egypt with an ostentatious lifestyle," said the specialist on the Middle East. And for good reason: much of the wealth of Mubarak would be placed in Swiss and British banks or real estate in the United Kingdom and the United States, but also in Paris, Madrid, Dubai and Frankfurt, according to a report of Last year in the Arabic newspaper Al Khabar.
To raise such a sum, the clan would Mubarak received a systematic and endemic corruption affecting every area of ​​the economy. In detail, the "exchange of good practices' of the Rats have begun when he was general, and headed the Egyptian Air Force. In this capacity, he negotiated contracts for the supply of military equipment to military aviation, and touched his pots of wine passed. A formula that would soon apply to all foreign investments to the country's accession to power, in which he was able to afford investments juicy. Mubarak had agreements with all the big names in real estate and other businessmen. We remember especially the case Madinaty, a case of selling state land for the construction of a residential complex for a pittance in Egyptian real estate mogul and pillar of the National Democratic Party ( NDP in power), Hisham Talaat Moustafa, and also convicted for the murder of a Lebanese singer (read more here). In addition, ABC News said that Gamal Mubarak would have speculated on its sovereign debt of countries over the last thirty years the Egyptian pound was trading at 25% of its value was guaranteed by the Egyptian state .. . With the money, he would have offered huge military land of "Ismailia Desert" at ridiculous prices, it would then resold to investors.
Practice
Current in the Gulf?
According Amaney Jamal, professor of political science at Princeton University, quoted by the Guardian, this method of wealth accumulation is a common model in the "Middle East dictators, that their wealth is not entered during a change of power. "The dividends from commercial activities related to the military and those linked to the government have accumulated on their personal assets," he told ABC News. There was much corruption in this regime and a stifling of public resources for personal purposes. "He added that most Gulf states require foreign companies to give a local partner 51% of units in new start- up. "In Egypt, the figure is usually closer to 20%, but it still allows politicians and their close allies in the military have access to huge profits without down payment and with little risk," has yet developed the Princeton professor. Note that the latest ranking by Transparency International, which measures perceptions of corruption in the World, published October 26, puts Egypt in the 98th out of 178 countries, behind Tunisia (59th) but ahead of Algeria ( 105th), Libya (146th) or even Italy (167th). Finally, remember that 40% of the 84 million people in Egypt live account with less than three dollars per day, while GDP is 138 billion euros in 2009.
* The richest are the Egyptian Sawiris, telecommunications giants, Construction and Tourism, whose father and son share these branches of the Orascom empire. They are also the only ones listed in Forbes. Naguib Sawiris is the richest man in Africa (62nd in the world).