Billions of dollars in Egyptian land deals over the past 20 years are coming under scrutiny by Egypt’s revolutionaries, amid a worldwide hunt for assets stashed away by former president Hosni Mubarak.
A real-estate boom which built satellite cities around Cairo and developed the Red Sea coast created vast fortunes for politically connected businessmen, many of whom allegedly received very generous terms for land which was allocated without competitive tenders.
Now many of these deals are likely to be re-examined by whatever political leadership takes Mr Mubarak’s place. Egyptian activists and lawyers said they hoped to revive dormant corruption cases and launch new ones.