Tamim charges 'will not affect company performance'

TAMIM CASE: The charges relating to the Suzan Tamim murder will not affect Talaat Moustafa Group, says its new chairman. (Getty Images)

Egyptian real estate developer Talaat Moustafa Group, hit by news that its outgoing chairman had been charged in a murder case, said on Wednesday all outstanding projects would be delivered on time.

The company appointed Tarek Talaat Moustafa as chairman and managing director on Tuesday, replacing his younger brother Hesham shortly after the public prosecutor charged Hesham with hiring a man to kill Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim in Dubai.

"These personal things usually have no impact on large institutions... so there's no impact on business," Tarek Talaat Moustafa told reporters at the group's headquarters in Cairo.

"I think people trust this brand name, and to date there hasn't been a single incident of any of our (house) units being returned."

The chairman, head of the housing committee in the Egyptian parliament, told the Dubai-based Al Alarbiya television earlier in the day that outstanding projects will be delivered on time.

Shares in the company, which plunged 16 percent on Tuesday, rose as high as 6.65 Egyptian pounds ($1.23) and closed 4.5 percent higher at 5.60 pounds.

The older Moustafa said the recovery of the share price showed investors trusted the new management.

The charge against Moustafa, a billionaire and a politician in the ruling National Democratic Party of President Hosni Mubarak, surprised Egyptians many of whom believe top businessmen and party officials are immune from prosecution.

"No immunity for corruption or for the powerful and the rich," read the headline of al Mussawar, a state-run weekly magazine.

The new chairman defended his brother against the charges, saying the trial will prove his innocence.

"I'm positive that in the course of the investigation things will become clear, and he'll be cleared of the charges," he told reporters.

The public prosecutor charged Hesham Talaat Moustafa, a billionaire and a politician in the ruling National Democratic Party of President Hosni Mubarak, of paying former police officer Muhsen el-Sukkari $2 million to kill Tamim in July.

Among other projects, Talaat Moustafa Group has embarked on building and developing Madinati, a major residential and commercial town on the outskirts of Cairo. It says the town will have the capacity to house 80,000 people. (Writing by Alaa Shahine; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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