Egypt’s Ex-Petroleum Minister Sentenced to 15 Years

Egypt’s former minister of petroleum, Sameh Fahmy, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail by an Egyptian court. Fahmy, along with businessman Hussein Salem, were charged with corruption over the sale of natural gas to Israel.

According to the Egyptian court, the pair harmed the country’s interests by exporting natural gas to Israel for prices lower than those prevailing on world markets at the time, costing Egypt $715 million, according to the court’s statement. 

The two men, along with six other senior oil executives, were fined about $2.3 billion, according to the court. The others were sentenced to between three and 10 years in prison.

Fahmy was arrested in April 2011 with court proceedings beginning in May. Salem is currently waiting for extradition from Spain, where he fled to after the popular uprising.