Tracking Mubarak's Fixer

[tabatha]

By Philip Shenon

The search for Hosni Mubarak’s fortune is likely to lead investigators to an Egyptian spy-turned-businessman who was widely seen in Cairo as the Mubarak family’s fixer.

The secretive energy trader and land developer, Hussein Salem, who made his most recent fortune through the sale of Egyptian natural gas to Israel, is reported to have fled Cairo last month after the first of the street riots that led to the collapse of the Mubarak government.

According to news reports in Israel, Salem, believed to be in his early eighties, arrived in Dubai carrying more than enough money to assure himself a comfortable retirement outside Egypt—$500 million.

Diplomats, economists, and bankers with an understanding of Egypt tell The Daily Beast that if a post-Mubarak government wants to track down the billions of dollars that the former president is accused of stealing and stashing abroad, they should track down the ever-elusive Salem, whose ties to Mubarak and his clan date back decades

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-16/hosni-mubaraks-money-trail-investigating-where-his-billions-went/