MADRID, June 23 (UPI) -- A member of the former Egyptian president's inner circle can't post bail because most of his assets are frozen, Spanish and Egyptian sources said.
Spanish authorities last week arrested Egyptian business tycoon Hussein Salem and his son. The tycoon is accused of squandering public money in a deal to sell natural gas to Israel at low prices.
Authorities froze his business accounts, worth $45 million, and seized real estate valued at $14 million in Madrid and Marbella. The funds were allegedly sent to Salem's accounts in Spain from Egypt illegally.
Judicial sources revealed Salem can't post bail because his assets are frozen. The only way he could post bail is through a third party with clean financial records, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm reports.
The report didn't indicate how high authorities set his bond.
Salem is close to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and left Egypt shortly before Mubarak was forced to step down in February.
Mubarak and those in his inner circle are under investigation on charges related to the deaths of unarmed civilian protesters killed at the height of the revolution.
