Egypt arrests top customs official on corruption charges
Egypt arrests top customs official on corruption charges
Egyptian authorities have detained the head of the country's customs authority on corruption charges, accused of accepting 1 million Egyptian pounds in bribes
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Customs chief Gamal Abdel-Azim (third from right) was accused of accepting bribes [Twitter]
Egyptian authorities have detained the head of the country's customs authority on corruption charges.
The Administrative Control Authority, Egypt's highest anti-graft agency, said Monday that Gamal Abdel-Azim was arrested after being accused of taking bribes of 1 million Egyptian pounds ($56,000) from an unnamed businessman.
The statement said Abdel-Azim faces accusations of bribery, profiteering and squandering public funds. It did not elaborate further on the case.
Read more: Sisi: A tyrant plagued by the ghosts of Egypt's revolution
Egyptians have long complained about high-level corruption, one of the central grievances of the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
Yet it still pervades political society seven years on.
Authorities arrested the governor of the Nile Delta province of Menoufia in January, and the deputy governor of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in August, both on corruption allegations.
The corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Egypt 108th out of 180 countries in its worldwide index in 2016.
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