Egypt’s General Prosecutor Abdel Megeed Mahmoud has transferred the Mercedes bribe scandal case to criminal court.

Abdel Hameed Mahmoud Mustafa Wasfy, the former chairman of a public-sector company affiliated with the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation (AOI) is accused of accepting DM 1,123,214 and € 522,101 thousand as a bribe from Daimler AG, a German car manufacturer, to favour buying their products.

His dealings have also caught his wife, Zenat Ibrahim, in the mess and she is also charged in court.

An investigation also accuses former chairman of an Egyptian military factory Madany Tawfiq Deif Allah of taking $2m in bribes for the same purpose.

The case was originally brought to attention in Egypt when the US brought four cases against Daimler for bribing officials and businessmen in 22 countries. The cases were settled in the US already but are now pending action in the Egyptian court.