A judge dismissed the corruption-related charges for 73 ministry of interior officials on Thursday in the case known as the "one billion Egyptian pounds.” The officials were accused of illicit gains under Mubarak-era interior minister Habib El-Adly.
In August 2015, the judge, who represents the prosecution in this case, referred El-Adly and 12 other officials in the ministry of interior to criminal court.
The defendants are accused of using their influence to acquire illicit gains amounting to LE1 billion (close to $128 million) when El-Adly served as minister of interior.
There were 90 other defendants in the case who were not referred to court but who were banned from travel, including 17 civilian officials from different state institutions such as the ministry of finance, ministry of transportation, and the Accountability State Authority (ASA), and the 73 aforementioned interior ministry's officials.
Thursday's decision included lifting the travel ban for the 90 defendants as the interior ministry officials refunded the amount of money they gained under El-Adly's authority.
The 73 defendants, some of them former defendants and others still serving in their posts, cited in the investigations that the money was "monthly incentives" granted by the minister as a reward for the "extraordinary efforts" made by them.
Among the 73 officials who refunded their money was El-Adly's aid and head of Cairo's security directorate, Ismail El-Shaer who paid more than LE10 million.
In November 2014, both El-Adly and El-Shaer, along with five other top interior ministry officials and former president Hosni Mubarak, were acquitted on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during the January 2011 uprising.
