Egyptian media overlook Credit Suisse leaks on Mubarak brothers

The latest Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) investigation analysed data leaked from accounts held by the two sons of late Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at a Zurich-based bank. The findings were however met with limited media attention in Egypt.

No Egyptian talk show has tackled the topic, while only a few outlets published news stories on the leaks involving Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, and other officials and business tycoons.

"For the Egyptian media, it’s old news. Reporters already know that [the brothers] are [allegedly] corrupt, so they saw no scoop in the story to cover or spotlight,” prominent political sociologist Said Sadek told The New Arab.

“It’s as if the leaks provided details of a well-known murder and the murderers in the absence of the corpses, just old wine in a new bottle,” he argued.

Egyptian social media users, meanwhile, did not react much either. Some lashed out at the brothers on Twitter and Facebook, while others copy pasted the news in their posts without commenting on it.

The OCCRP investigation's data shows that the two brothers held six accounts worth $302 million at Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank.

Following the 25 January Revolution, Hosni, Alaa, and Gamal Mubarak were jailed for several years over charges of embezzlement and corruption.

The brothers were released from prison after a $17.6 million settlement with the Egyptian government, without an admission of guilt.

In February 2020, Alaa and Gamal Mubarak were acquitted of the remaining charges against them. And in July last year, the prosecutor general unfroze their assets in Egypt.

In addition to mass corruption, the Mubarak regime was responsible for the imprisonment, torture, and disappearance of thousands of suspected dissidents.

Almost 11 years after Egyptians ousted Mubarak, their life has not changed much with another military regime taking over, led by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.