NEW YORK -- In his first speech to the country, the new president of Egypt promised "not to commit myself to what I cannot implement, hide the truth from the people, or be lenient with corruption and disorder."
That was Hosni Mubarak in 1981, taking the reins of his proud country in the wake of Anwar Sadat's assassination and expressing a determination to steer Egypt in a new direction. During a crackdown on profiteering by politically-connected wealthy businessmen, Sadat's half-brother and his sons were jailed and handed steep fines. Several dozen prominent members of Sadat's circle were slapped with criminal charges for misusing their power and other corrupt practices. Mubarak was known for his "rigid personal probity," according to a 1990 New York Times profile, which noted that "his family has not profited from his office."
But over the last 20 years, Mubarak, his family and his close circle of advisers have enriched themselves through partnerships in powerful Egyptian companies, profiting from their political power, according to numerous reports. The 82-year-old leader and his two sons also wield the levers of the government, including the military and the country's preeminent political party, to reward friends and punish enemies.
Mubarak -- who stepped down on Friday in the wake of massive protests that have gripped Cairo and Alexandria for weeks -- and his family have a net worth of at least $5 billion, analysts tell The Huffington Post. Recent media reports pegging the family fortune at between $40 and $70 billion are considered to be exaggerated.
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The Mubarak family reportedly owns properties around the world, from London and Paris to New York and Beverly Hills. In addition to homes in the Red Sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and the upscale Cairo district of Heliopolis, they also have a six-story mansion in the Knightsbridge section of London, a house near the Bois de Bologne in Paris and two yachts.
Largely through Mubarak's two sons, Gamal and Alaa, the family controls a network of companies that earn money through concessions wrangled from foreign companies that do business in Egypt, according to prominent businessmen and "Corruption In Egypt: The Black Cloud Is Not Disappearing," an investigative report compiled in 2006 by a coalition of opposition groups. (The report, which names the companies allegedly owned by the Mubarak brothers and details multiple instance of corruption by government officials, has been cited by numerous international good government groups, such as Transparency International, but it was taken offline and is no longer available on the Internet. The Huffington Post obtained a copy, replete with rhetorical flourishes and thinly-sourced allegations, which is available here.)
"Egypt's state under Mubarak's regime is an embodiment of corruption," concludes the report, with descriptions of numerous allegations of corruption involving bribery, undue influence and nepotism.
In the 1980s, Mubarak seemed sincere in his desire to crack down on corruption in an effort to distinguish himself from Sadat, says an Egyptian-American businessman who often does business in the country. "But as time went on, the cronies around him started taking advantage of the system," he says. "And the other factor was his children got into business, taking commissions out of each and every company that comes to Egypt. The way they have amassed that money is not by stealing but by ensuring that businesses that want to operate in Egypt pay from 5 percent to 20 percent commission to a company formed by Gamal Mubarak. I know businessmen who have been squeezed this way."
Some of the family's wealth is also believed to be through partnerships with foreign companies -- under Egyptian law, foreign businesses are required to give a local partners a 51-percent stake in their Egyptian operations. "According to this law, any multinational company needs to have a local sponsor, and this local sponsor usually goes through members of the family or powerful people in the ruling party," says Aladdin Elaasar, the author of "Last Pharaoh: Mubarak and the Uncertain Future."
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