In the 1990s, the idea of establishing a new Egyptian museum to house a larger collection of artifacts than the old Tahrir Museum emerged, but it was not implemented at the time. According to the official website of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 2002 marked the beginning of laying the foundation stone for the construction of the Grand Egyptian Museum overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. However, construction initially began with the restoration center for the artifacts that the museum would later preserve, and it was inaugurated in 2010.
In 2020, Law No. 9 of 2020 was issued to reorganize the Grand Egyptian Museum Authority as an economic entity, with a Board of Trustees chaired by the President of the Republic. Article (11) of the law stipulates that the museum’s authority may approve contracting with non-Egyptians to achieve the museum’s objectives as a global complex or assign them certain temporary tasks. Additionally, Article (12) of the law states that the museum authority may establish joint-stock companies, either independently, in partnership with others, or through mergers with existing companies. It may also entrust the management and operation of the museum’s services to Egyptian or foreign entities without adhering to governmental systems and regulations.
Egyptians and those interested in Egyptian antiquities are eagerly awaiting the museum’s opening in the coming months, following its trial opening. However, the museum, whose construction began in 2002, faces doubts and allegations of theft and corruption among some of its staff. Three museum officials are currently on trial in Case No. (71) of 2024 at the October Felonies Court, registered as Case No. 44 of 2024 High Public Funds Felonies. They are accused of embezzling a bronze statue of Osiris from their workplace at the museum.
This is not the first case involving such issues. Financial violations were also associated with Member of Parliament Gihan Mohamed Zaki, who served as the Executive Director of the Grand Egyptian Museum Authority. She was dismissed from her position the day after the museum’s trial opening on October 17, following the discovery of irregularities and manipulation of accounts.
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Financial and Administrative Violations
Gihan, a member of the Legislative Committee in the House of Representatives, appointed by President El-Sisi, holds the record for the shortest tenure as head of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) to date (a presidential decree also appointed her as the Executive Director of GEM). She served for only four months and 20 days after her appointment on May 27.
According to information obtained by Zawia3, Gihan was linked to corruption allegations in 2019. At that time, the then-Minister of Culture, Inas Abdel-Dayem, issued Decision No. 545 of 2019, which mandated the review and inspection of the annual inventory of all assets at the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome (Gihan was the first Egyptian woman to head the institution since its establishment). The decision also included the review of the academy’s financial transactions, all legal proceedings involving the academy in Italy, and the latest legal status of each case and corresponding legal measures up to the date of review.
A committee was formed under the leadership of Ahmed Salah El-Din Bahgat, then head of the Minister of Culture’s office, and included Council of State judge and legal advisor to the Minister of Culture, Essam Mohamed Rifaat, alongside accountants Tariq Mohamed Metwally, Azza Ahmed El-Hajj, and Mahmoud Youssef Hassan. The committee concluded there were confirmed cases of corruption and financial and administrative violations. The committee traveled to Rome to conduct investigations based on its mandate. However, Gihan, who was the director of the academy at the time, evaded the investigations, avoided attending, and finalized her belongings before departing. The committee then compiled a report and memorandum of findings for the Minister of Culture and filed an official complaint against her with the Administrative Control Authority for further investigation into the allegations.
Zawia3 obtained the complete file, including the Administrative Control Authority’s complaint and the investigation committee’s detailed report. According to these documents, “The committee convened in full formation at the Ministry of Culture headquarters on the evening of August 28, 2019, and prepared the report under the Minister of Culture’s directives. The report stated that on the committee’s first working day in Rome, it was evident that Gihan, as director of the academy, was absent despite being informed of the committee’s arrival on August 20, 2019, via official email dated August 19, 2019.”
She merely annotated the email presented to her by the academy’s financial and administrative officer with the note, “They will be hosted.” When asked about the director’s whereabouts, academy staff reported that she left the premises before the committee’s arrival and had her personal belongings transported through a shipping company at her own expense in preparation for her departure from Italy. The file revealed that she left two days before the legal end of her term—a period that should have been used to settle the academy’s financial and administrative matters to avoid operational disruptions. This worsened the situation, leaving the academy without necessary financial and procedural arrangements, with only €8.89 remaining in the treasury. No formal banking measures were taken to assess the academy’s operational needs.
According to findings accessed by Zawia3, the reports indicated numerous instances of financial settlements and disbursements without official approvals or direct purchase orders. The financial officer could not validate the legality or trace the destination of these expenditures, as they were all authorized solely by the academy’s director. The Ministry of Finance’s accountant rejected the financial statements submitted by the academy due to indications of corruption and misappropriation of public funds.
The documents revealed that for the fiscal year 2017/2018, €635,255 was unaccounted for, along with €355,987 in 2016/2017, €1,578,065 in 2015/2016, €22,154 in 2014/2015, €11,654 in 2013/2014, and €63,251 in 2012/2013. All these funds lacked official documentation for expenditures and were suspected of being misappropriated.
Further violations included improper disposal of academy assets. For example, in 2013, all equipment from the Egyptian Antiquities and Pharaonic Exhibitions, valued at approximately €655,345, was discarded by paying disposal fees to companies instead of generating revenue for the academy. In 2014, nine preparation rooms were scrapped, costing €11,240, even though these rooms were fully renovated in 2009 and rarely used.
In September 2015, an exhibition in Venice cost approximately €32,980, according to records, but there were no settlements, accounting, or official procedures confirming the legitimacy of these expenses. The mentioned amount lacked precise details of items and their purposes. The transaction was reportedly resolved between the academy and the Minister’s office head at the time. Financial oversight rejected the accounting, which remained unresolved until the report’s release.
In 2016, during the Venice International Exhibition, €1,214 was spent on the academy director’s travel for the opening day, with an additional €17,544 for hosting 204 guests at €86 per person. The attached invoice from the Danieli Luxury Collection Hotel in Venice confirmed this amount, excluding taxes, though discrepancies in the guest list and transportation methods were evident.
These violations extended to hiring irregular workers, in breach of Italian laws in 2017, resulting in a €3,500 fine. Additional costs included €11,548 for unpaid worker insurance, €5,800 in legal fees for an Italian attorney defending the academy’s director, €4,352 for a settlement in an unresolved case involving a landscaping worker hired irregularly, and €45,483 to settle another employee’s lawsuit over unpaid dues. Legal fees amounted to €1,300 for the defense of these cases.
Financial Corruption
Following the conclusion of investigations into the academy’s accounts, it was revealed that a “temporary advances” account was being used to disburse funds without any formal or documented procedures, as per the directives of the academy’s director. These disbursements were made without official memos detailing the purpose of the expenditures or the necessity for repayment, circumventing the oversight of the academy’s financial and administrative officers.
Approximately €2,244 was spent over five months on dining expenses, during which the academy director hosted friends outside the academy informally, constituting a misuse of public funds. Additionally, irregular hiring practices were employed in violation of Italian labor laws, assisting individuals in avoiding tax and insurance payments in Italy. This resulted in the academy incurring double the legally mandated fines for such violations.
Other issues included the absence of an annual inventory of assets to assess their condition and oversee their disposal. Items eligible for scrapping were not properly documented, and the academy lacked a systematic financial tracking process, such as sequentially numbered and director-approved expenditure logs or clear communication records. These deficiencies undermined financial and administrative controls.
The academy also failed to respond to financial audit queries from the Ministry of Culture’s auditor regarding €5 million annually transferred from Cairo for the academy’s operations in the 2017/2018 fiscal year. The administrative officer stated that the academy’s director had instructed the previous officer not to prepare responses to these queries, preventing their submission to the Minister’s office. This failure to address discrepancies led to an accumulation of unaccounted funds, as highlighted by the Central Auditing Organization during its review of that fiscal year.
Zawia3 spoke with Essam Mohamed Rifaat, a Council of State judge and legal advisor to the then-Minister of Culture, who confirmed the authenticity of the documents obtained. He emphasized that the committee had submitted evidence of financial and administrative violations at the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome.
He explained that the committee identified numerous violations within the academy, causing financial burdens on the Ministry of Culture’s budget. Many of these financial discrepancies were unauthorized by the Ministry of Culture in Cairo.
Rifaat noted that in addition to the financial issues, illegal hiring practices were among the most egregious crimes committed, resulting in substantial legal fees, worker compensations, and fines to the Italian government. Italy’s legal system imposes double fines for delayed payments.
He further elaborated that there was significant negligence in maintaining financial documentation and invoices. Financial discrepancies amounting to €5 million were identified during an audit of the academy’s operations over the past five years under the director’s leadership. The committee’s report, along with the original financial, administrative, and procedural documents, was submitted to the Administrative Control Authority, but no action was taken before his tenure as a legal advisor ended.
Rifaat stated that Presidential Decree No. 5 of 2020, appointing members of the current parliamentary term, included the name of the former academy director and recently dismissed head of the Grand Egyptian Museum as an appointed member of Parliament. Since that appointment, no investigations have been conducted, committee members have not been summoned as witnesses, and the individual in question has not been interrogated regarding the allegations against her. He stressed that parliamentary immunity had shielded her from legal and judicial accountability for the accusations she faces.
Grand Egyptian Museum
Zawia3 interviewed several employees of the Grand Egyptian Museum—who requested anonymity—to uncover the circumstances behind the dismissal of its former director, Jehan Zaki. They expressed their surprise at her abrupt termination, which occurred without any prior notice or preparation. At the time, operations at the museum were progressing smoothly in preparation for its official opening.
The employees stated that the dismissal order was unexpected. Jehan was asked to vacate her office without any prior arrangements, to make way for a new director who would assume all responsibilities, assets, seals, documents, and items under her care. They noted that certain unnamed entities had conducted investigations and gathered information before, during, and after the termination. These investigations reportedly included a comprehensive review of completed tasks, procedural matters, inventory, and all museum-related documents, artifacts, and operations.
Zawia3 obtained a document circulated among the museum staff, attributed to a sovereign authority, detailing allegations against Jehan Zaki. The document accused her of involvement in Case No. 2025 of 1998, related to antiquities trafficking, for which she was reportedly arrested and later released in her capacity as an appraisal expert. Additionally, it listed her as a defendant in Case No. 92 of 1982 (Adab Giza), involving the facilitation of prostitution in an apartment in Mohandessin, and Case No. 8222 (Abdeen Felonies), classified under State Security, concerning antiquities smuggling. The document also implicated her husband, Medhat Michel, a transportation company owner, in a 2018 case involving the smuggling of thousands of Egyptian artifacts to Italy. Italian authorities had seized over 23,000 Egyptian artifacts in May 2018, shipped from Alexandria Port to Salerno, Italy, in diplomatic bags.
The document further alleged that Jehan’s appointment as director of the Egyptian Academy of Arts in Rome (2012–2020) by the then-Minister of Culture violated regulations, as it was made without a formal announcement. It also accused her of holding dual roles as an academy director and an Egyptology professor at French universities, contravening Egyptian law.
Legal expert Mostafa Alwan, a lawyer at the High Appeal Court and State Council, explained to Zawia3 that according to documents, reports, and allegations in the committee’s submission to the Administrative Control Authority, the dismissed director was implicated in crimes of public fund embezzlement, mismanagement, and theft. These offenses are outlined in Articles 111 to 115 of Law No. 58 of 1937. The penalties include rigorous imprisonment for public servants who unlawfully appropriate funds under their care or facilitate acts constituting the material elements of public fund misappropriation. Punishments can range from up to ten years of rigorous imprisonment to life imprisonment if forgery is involved in facilitating the crime.
He emphasized that the allegations against Jehan included all elements of public fund misappropriation and associated forgery. Her use of her official powers to facilitate financial mismanagement, profiteering, and misappropriation aligns with multiple forms of crimes against public funds, warranting stringent legal action under Egyptian law.
