Police officers are seen in front of the International Convention Center as the UN climate summit COP27 is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 12, 2022 [Mohamed Abdel Hamid - Anadolu Agency]
Police officers are seen in front of the International Convention Center as the UN climate summit COP27 is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 12, 2022 [Mohamed Abdel Hamid – Anadolu Agency]
For over 11 years, the Egyptian authorities have tightened their grip on businessmen, seizing private companies in a manner that makes the future of investment in the most populous Arab country uncertain. Initially, they specifically targeted Islamists following the coup of July, 2013, but repressive practices expanded to include major businessmen and investors linked closely to the regime, posing a threat to Egypt’s investment prospects.
The Egyptian government remains secretive about the total value of confiscated assets, the number of companies seized, and the extent of private properties appropriated during the time in office of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. However, under the title “Their Wealth is Our Spoils: Threatening Companies and Local Investment Under the Guise of the War on Terror”, a recent report by the Egyptian Front for Human Rights reveals the behind-the-scenes details of the ongoing campaign against businessmen.
Estimates indicate that the total value of assets seized from the ousting of late President Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013 to 2018 was approximately 300 billion Egyptian pounds ($16.7bn). This figure can probably be doubled with the government’s ongoing confiscation and sequestration policies.
Companies, hospitals, private schools, charities, bank accounts and personal property have all been targeted by the government.
The confiscations are based on a ruling by the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters in September 2013, designating the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” organisation. This ruling paved the way for the introduction of asset seizure policies, followed by Ministerial Decree No. 1141 of 2013, which formed an independent committee led by a representative of the Ministry of Justice to implement the ruling, and Decree No. 579 of 2014, which established the Committee for the Inventory and Management of Muslim Brotherhood Funds.
The security grip tightened further with the issuance of Law No. 8 of 2015 concerning the Regulation of Terrorist Entities and Individuals Lists, which introduced lists including politicians, academics, journalists, human rights activists and businessmen, among others.
The authorities in Cairo reinforced their measures with Law No. 94 of 2015, which granted them the power to issue asset seizure orders without referring to relevant courts and to access individuals’ and companies’ bank accounts without judicial approval.
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This flawed legislation opened the floodgates for the government’s financial and asset plundering. In 2015 alone, Ezzat Khamis, the head of the Brotherhood Asset Inventory Committee, announced the seizure of 532 companies, two factories, 14 money exchange companies and their branches, 522 properties affiliated with the movement and 400 acres of agricultural land, according to the State Information Service (which operates under the presidency).
By 2018, the government had seized 118 companies, 1,133 charitable organisations, 104 schools, 69 hospitals, 33 websites and TV channels, 460 vehicles and 318 acres of farmland, as reported in state newspapers.
The Egyptian regime expanded its asset seizure and confiscation policies by passing Law No. 22 of 2018, which established and regulated the Committee for the Sequestration of Terrorist Assets and Entities, as well as Law No. 14 of 2020, which amended regulations for listing individuals and entities as terrorists.
The Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Unit (a government entity) is responsible for updating these lists monthly. By the end of 2024, the list included 3,691 individuals and eight corporate entities.
The unit is headed by Ahmed Said Khalil Al-Sisi, the Egyptian president’s brother.
The Egyptian Front for Human Rights is an independent organisation based in the Czech Republic. “How do the Egyptian authorities seize businessmen’s assets?” it asked, before explaining that the early years of what was termed the “war on terror” led to the dismantling of financial and economic entities categorised as security threats due to their alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. However, after this initial wave, a second emerged, targeting local businesses and entrepreneurs.
What stands out in the second wave is the systematic targeting of a broader spectrum of businesses, including large, medium and smaller companies. This expansion is driven by two primary factors: First, Egypt’s financial crisis has pushed government agencies to seek multiple funding sources for the treasury and to coerce businessmen into participating in state-sponsored projects that failed to attract interest from the local business community. Second, security agencies have been granted extensive powers to gather intelligence on businessmen, corporate structures, financial portfolios and assets, without any oversight from judicial or administrative bodies.
The human rights report documents testimonies from victims who confirmed that security forces involved in raids tend to seize all cash and financial assets, which often do not appear in subsequent investigations and official records. One case involved the disappearance of $2 million confiscated from the home of a detained individual.
One victim spoke to me on condition of anonymity, and recounted how National Security agents (Egypt’s domestic intelligence service) raided his brother’s home at night, seized 250,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,000) and charged him with financing a terrorist organisation. “The same scenario has played out with owners of small and medium-sized businesses, leading to their closure,” he added.
In another case, Nada Mughith, the wife of detained artist Omar Ashraf, accused Egypt’s Interior Ministry of seizing 350,000 Egyptian pounds ($7,000) while only recording 80,000 pounds ($1,600) in the official records. The ministry denied the accusation, alleging instead that her husband had received funds from the Brotherhood abroad for local distribution. Mughith was detained for several hours before being released on bail of 5,000 pounds ($100) in January.
Egyptian businessmen have increasingly been targeted to pressure them into relinquishing their assets, entering forced partnerships with state-owned companies, buying failing enterprises at exorbitant prices, or making regular monetary contributions to sovereign funds, according to the human rights group’s report.
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Among the most prominent victims of this systematic targeting are Salah Diab, Mohamed El-Amin, Abdel Rahman Saudi, Mostafa Abdel Moiz and Hassan Rateb. The latter was ultimately forced to cede stakes in his Sinai investments, including Sinai Cement Company, to a sovereign entity: the Egyptian armed forces.
The list of victims also includes businessman Sayed El-Sweirky, owner of the Tawheed & Nour retail chain, who was released from prison after surrendering assets, including land and stores. Similarly, Ahmed El-Ezaby, owner of El-Ezaby Pharmacies, was detained and threatened with lawsuits until he handed over 49 per cent of his company’s shares to Egypt’s Sovereign Fund.
The case of Safwan Thabet, owner of Juhayna Dairy Company, and his son Seif, caused a major public and human rights outcry. Thabet refused to merge his company with a state-affiliated intelligence entity or buy loss-making government-owned firms, resulting in the seizure of his assets and a two-year prison sentence. He was finally released in January 2023.
At the time, Amnesty International condemned Thabet’s detention, and highlighted the fact that he and his son were imprisoned for refusing to relinquish assets to a state-affiliated entity. This account was corroborated by sources close to the family, according to Reuters.
A human rights expert who requested anonymity asserted that asset confiscation policies have not only targeted companies and businessmen, but also included the seizure of personally-owned cash, gold, mobile phones and computers during raids against dissidents.
Such confiscated items are often left unreported in official records.
The systematic targeting has not been limited to major corporations and their owners; it has also extended to smaller businesses. Security forces have harassed and threatened these businesses to remove them from the market in favour of companies linked to state agencies or to compel investors to channel funds into specific projects. This has led to the liquidation of real estate firms operating in areas like Tagamoa, Shorouk and Badr, to the north-east of Cairo.
This market engineering strategy resulted in the seizure of 18 real estate investment firms in 2018, forcing much of the private sector out of the market or under strict security control to drive demand for expensive housing units in state-constructed projects.
Ultimately, many confiscated companies have been forced to shut down. Their employees have been dismissed and their owners have either fled abroad after release, transferred their investments to other countries, or sought foreign citizenship to safeguard their wealth from becoming spoils of the bogus “war on terror” for the Egyptian authorities.
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