The official Middle East news Agency said Thursday that Ahmed El-Maghrabi was found guilty of intentionally damaging public finances by allowing a businessman to illegally acquire state land.

The businessman, Mounir Ghabbour, received a one-year suspended sentence. The verdicts can be appealed.

El-Maghrabi was accused of illegally selling 18 acres of state land at cut-rate prices to Ghabbour.

The court ordered them to repay a total of $12 million (72 million Egyptian pounds) and fined them the same amount.

Some two dozen Cabinet ministers and businessmen linked to the ousted regime of Hosni Mubarak face corruption charges.