Rounding Them Up

The Spanish Interpol informed their Egyptian counterparts on June 16 that businessman Hussain Salem, a Mubarak associate wanted on charges of money laundering and fraud, has been arrested. Salem had fled the country days before former president Hosni Mubarak stepped down and has since been accused of financial corruption — he is closely associated to the gas deal with Israel. Salem’s son Khaled was also arrested in Spain in the same week for money laundering charges.   Salem holds a Spanish passport, raising questions about whether the Spanish authorities will agree to extradite the fugitive to Egypt for a prosecution here. The Spanish judiciary had already started Salem’s trial despite the fact that Egypt has officially asked for his return to hold the trial here.   On June 18, the Spanish court set bail for Salem at a controversial, not to mention shocking, $39 million (LE 232.2 million), but he won’t be writing a check for it — his accounts of $45 million (LE 267.9 million) in Spanish banks have been frozen. At press time, Salem was in custody in a hospital after being admitted for heart problems, the seemingly preferred method among Mubarak cronies for staying out of a jail cell.   Egyptian authorities and Interpol are still searching for fugitive businessman Yassin Mansour, former Minister of Trade Rachid Mohamed Rachid and former Minister of Finance Youssef Boutros Ghali.