In a dramatic fall from grace, for one of Egypt’s leading businessmen, the property tycoon, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, has been sentenced to death for the murder of his former lover, the Lebanese pop star, Suzanne Tamim. Moustafa, who’s also a prominent member of Egypt’s ruling party, was found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill the singer, in a case that has gripped the Arab world.

According Reuters, in the beginning of February, Al-Fajer Properties announced a 3.2 billion dirham ($871.2 million) restructuring of its operations. Under the leadership of its new president, Sheik Maktoum bin Hasher Al Maktoum – the eldest son of the company’s owner – the company had liquidated its land bank and sold off its remaining inventory after a “rigorous” business review in order to strengthen its balance sheet.

Later sources close to Al-Fajer told America’a leading business magazine Forbes that the restructuring was actually a wholesale “rescue” from financial ruin as an independent entity, after nearly three years of alleged mismanagement under former manager Shahram Abdullah Zadeh, businessman from Iranian origin.

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