CAIRO – Former Egyptian prime minister Ahmed Nazif was jailed for three years Thursday for the unlawful possession of property and for making illegal profits from a public-interest company. Nazif, who held the job during deposed president Hosni Mubarak's last years in office, was also fined 9 million Egyptian pounds ($1.48 million). Prosecutors said he made 64 million Egyptian pounds by illegally acquiring land and an Alexandria apartment and making private profits from a public institution he founded. He had already been handed a suspended sentence on separate corruption charges. Nazif, 60, was one of several senior officials detained in the days after Mubarak's overthrow as prosecutors began investigating the complex web of political and business interests at the top of the autocratic leader's government. He was prime minister from July 2004 to Jan. 29, 2011 - the fourth day of the uprising against Mubarak. His government pushed through free-market reforms aimed at stimulating investment in Egypt. The pace of economic growth accelerated as a result but critics said the reforms widened an already gaping divide between the rich and the poor and failed to create enough jobs for a fast-growing population. Nazif, who was close to business circles and a main architect of economic liberalization in Egypt, was remanded in custody April 2011. He was charged two months later with appropriating state property and embezzling public funds. In a separate case, Nazif received a one-year suspended sentence for illegal profiteering in a deal to import new vehicle number plates with a German business partner and two other ministers. – Agencies
