Egypt's richest man sentenced to 3 years in jail on tax evasion: ETA

Egypt's wealthiest man, Nassef Sawiris, has been sentenced in absentia to three years in prison and fines worth LE50 million on charges of refraining from paying due checks to Egypt's Tax Authority (ETA), sources at the authority told Ahram Online.

Sawiris, aged 53, runs Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), the Egyptian subsidiary of Dutch company OCI NV.

OCI and Nassef Sawiris were not immediately available for comment.

In March 2013, the tax authority accused OCI of tax evasion worth some LE14 billion ($2 billion) over the $12 billion sale of its subsidiary Orascom Building Materials Holding (OBMH) to cement giant Lafarge in 2007.

In April of the same year, OCI reached a settlement over its tax dispute with the government, with the company agreeing to pay the ETA LE7.1 billion in 10 instalments from 2013-2017.