CAIRO: A travel ban enforced on Egyptian-American businessman Ahmed Bahgat was lifted Wednesday according to a court decision issued by Judge Fathy al-Bayoumy, Al-Watan newspaper reported.
The order included former agent of Federation of Egyptian Industries Shafik al-Boghdady, owner of Juhayna for diary and juice factory Safwan Sabet, Ahmed Abdel Maksoud Arafa, SODIC owner Magdy Rasekh and the Moroccan businessman Miloudi Omar al-Shaaby.
However, the reason the travel ban was lifted for remains unknown but judicial sources told Al Masry al-Youm that the said businessmen has reached a final settlement with the Tax Authority.
In January 2014, Bahgat the other businessmen were banned from traveling outside the country due to charges of illicit gains and seizure of public property.
Bahgat is a prominent Egyptian businessman and holder of the U.S. citizenship who runs several major companies in Egypt. He is also the owner of Dream TV channel.
The businessman had embarked on an urban development project in Sudan in 2004, but after prolonged disagreements with the Sudanese government, the project officially ended in 2012 before construction had started.
Bahgat is widely considered to have had close ties with the family of former President Hosni Mubarak, as he accompanied Mubarak in a visit to the U.S. in 2005. After the January 25 Revolution it came out that he had bought the land from the government for his luxurious 2,000-acre urban development project Dreamland at only 50 EGP ($ 7) per square meter.
Under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, Bahgat’s relation with the government cooled. Dream TV was shut down for weeks on a decision by former Prime Minister Hesham Qandil.