The Cairo Criminal Court, headed by Judge Ashraf Eissa and with Judges Khaled Al-Abraq, Ahmed Khaled Al-Shaib, and Marwan Gamal, acquitted Ahmed H.A. of charges related to illegal foreign currency trading after he was caught with $10,000 in the Nasr City district.
Prosecutors accused the defendant of engaging in unlicensed banking activities by exchanging foreign currency outside official channels. The prosecution’s case relied mainly on investigations by the General Administration for Combating Financial Crimes, which claimed that the defendant was dealing in U.S. dollars through a confidential informant.
The defendant was arrested after allegedly handing over dollars in exchange for Egyptian pounds during a monitored meeting.
During the trial, the defense argued that the arrest and search were unlawful, citing the absence of any act of flagrante delicto, and claimed that the evidence was weak and based solely on questionable investigations.
In its ruling, the court stated that it did not trust the officer’s testimony or the prosecution’s evidence, emphasizing that the incident might have been misrepresented. The judges concluded that the case lacked definitive proof for conviction, as investigations alone cannot constitute solid evidence in criminal cases. The court, therefore, acquitted the defendant of all charges.
