Actors, actresses and businessmen were victims of a Dubai-based Egyptian accused of fraud and of stealing millions of dollars from his clients, it emerged Wednesday.
A list of some of Nabil al-Boushi's Egyptian alleged victims was published Wednesday, one day after the Egyptian billionaire was arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), dpa reported.
More than 35 complaints were filed against al-Boushi, who owns a brokerage company, by Egyptian and Emirati claimants.
They accused him of taking about 37 million US dollars with the alleged aim of investing them in the London and New York bourses, after promising them a 40 per cent monthly profit.
The list includes famous actress Laila Olwi, said to have lost more than 500,000 dollars, Mervat Amin, another cinema star, losing almost the same amount, and her ex-husband, actor Hussein Fahmi, losing two million dollars.
Mahmoud al-Khatib, former footballer and the current vice chairman of Egypt's Al-Ahly Club (six million dollars) and Hassan al-Gabali, the brother of Egypt's Minister of Health Hatem al-Gabali (12 million dollars) are also among those named as victims, according to the list published by Rose al-Youssef Egyptian daily.
A police source was quoted as saying that al-Boushi, who was arrested in the glitzy emirate of Dubai, will not be extradited to Egypt until after his trial in the UAE.
The source added that if al-Boushi had a jail term he would be jailed there, since a group of Emirati businessmen filed reports accusing him of swindling millions out of them.
Egypt's prosecutor general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud ordered judicial sequestration on al-Boushi's bank accounts and properties.
A sequestration is also imposed on Fekri Badr Eddin Hamdi, al- Boushi's partner who was also arrested with him, and his family's properties.
News reports Wednesday also said an Egyptian minister was directly involved in the scandal, as he owned shares in the brokerage company. However, the name was withheld pending proof.