Sameh Fahmy, Egypt’s oil minister under the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges related to gas exports to Israel, a Cairo criminal court said in a faxed statement today.

Businessman Hussein Salem was also sentenced to 15 years in jail on the same charges of selling gas to Israel at below- market prices, costing Egypt $715 million, according to the court’s statement.

Opponents of Mubarak’s administration criticised the gas deal before he was pushed from power in February 2011. Several lawsuits were filed against the supply deal and the government had said it was reviewing the terms of the contracts. It was subsequently scrapped by Egypt in April.

read more http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-28/egypt-ex-oil-minister-fahmy-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-1-.html