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Egypt fights for Mubarak's millions

Egypt is seeking to repatriate $700 million that Switzerland has frozen in accounts that belong to Hosni Mubarak and his family.

Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak sits next to his sons Gamal (L) and Alaa (R) inside a dock at the police academy on the outskirts of Cairo May 21, 2014. An Egyptian court on Wednesday sentenced Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison on charges of stealing public funds. His sons were sentenced to four years in jail on the same charges. REUTERS/Stringer (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR3Q5QZ
Egypt's ousted President Hosni Mubarak sits next to his sons Gamal (L) and Alaa (R) inside a dock at the police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, May 21, 2014. — REUTERS

CAIRO — In July 2012, Swiss public prosecutor Michael Christophe Lauber froze accounts with 700 million Swiss francs ($761 million) in Swiss banks. These funds are in the name of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and his two sons, Alaa and Gamal, and 31 of his aides, including former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli. Lauber's action was based on documents received from the Egyptian government after the January 25 Revolution, stating the funds had been illegally smuggled out of the country.

The Egyptian Ministry of Justice received an official letter June 17 from the Swiss public prosecutor’s office indicating that the investigations related to the accusation of Mubarak and his regime of joining and supporting a criminal organization had been halted following the acquittal of Mubarak and his aides by the Egyptian judiciary, but that the investigation of money laundering against Mubarak and 31 of his men was still underway and that the funds would remain frozen.

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