Egypt investigates extraordinary court spending under Tantawi

Egypt’s prosecutor general will investigate a case against the former chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces over an extraordinary increase in the Supreme Constitutional Court’s spending.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram quoted former lawmaker Mohamed al-Omda as saying on Sunday that the Supreme Constitutional Court increased at least 25 million Egyptian pounds (about 4.09 million dollars) in the court’s 2012-2013 budget over the past year.

Prosecutor General Abdel Maguid Mahmoud will probe the case against Mohammad Hussein Tantawi, the paper added.

The 2012-2013 budget was significantly higher than that of 2011-2012, Omda stated, adding that the budget included unexplained rises in salaries, benefits and other expenses.

Head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Maher el-Beheiry and former Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri are also included in the case to be investigated by the prosecutor general.

On June 14, Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the parliament, ruling that one third of the parliamentary seats were “illegitimate.”

Following the court ruling, Egyptian generals assumed legislative power and took control of the state budget.

Tantawi was also Egypt’s defense minister for nearly two decades under former dictator Hosni Mubarak.

In August, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi dismissed Tantawi and appointed Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as the new defense minister.