Egypt auditor, sacked by Sisi, convicted of lying about mass corruption

Egypt’s former top auditor, who was sacked after he said corruption had cost the country $68 billion in four years, was sentenced to jail on Thursday for spreading false news, judicial sources said.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi sacked Hisham Geneina, head of the Central Auditing Organisation, in March. He appointed a fact-finding commission that quickly concluded Geneina had misled the public by over-estimating the scale of corruption.

Geneina was fined 20,000 pounds ($2,200) and told he could pay 10,000 pounds more in lieu of serving his jail term, the sources said.

“This is the maximum penalty and we will appeal,” defense lawyer Ali Taha told Reuters.

Sisi has made fighting graft a priority for his government as it struggles to rebuild an economy battered by political turmoil since the 2011 uprising that ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.