Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's appeal in graft case rejected

Mubarak and his sons are accused of embezzling USD 16 million from funds.

Cairo

: An Egyptian court on Saturday rejected an appeal by former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons to quash a three-year jail sentence for embezzling USD 16 million from funds meant for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

Mubarak, 87, and his sons -- Gamal and Alaa – were charged of acquiring almost 126 million Egyptian pounds (USD 16 million) from the presidential palace budget and using the money for the construction and development of family-owned assets.

They are also charged with forging official documents and damaging public property.

In May 2014, Mubarak and his sons were sentenced to three years each in a maximum security prison on embezzlement charges.

Collectively, they were fined 125 million Egyptian Pounds and are required to repay 21 million Egyptian Pounds.

Mubarak and seven former security commanders, including his former interior minister Habib al-Adly, were cleared in 2014 of charges of killing anti-government protesters during the 2011 revolution.

The judge in the case said that Mubarak should never be tried for these charges.

It was not immediately clear, however, how long Mubarak would remain in detention. His sons were freed in October.

Mubarak has spent most of his time in a military hospital since his arrest in 2011 after his ouster in popular uprising.