Prominent Falcon Group owner assets frozen, banned from travel over thuggery, gang leadership charges

Businessman Sabry Nakhnoukh, an owner of the prominent private security firm, Falcon Group, was banned from travel and had his assets frozen by Public Prosecution order on Sunday, following his detention last week on charges of leading a gang that practices thuggery and intimidation. Nakhnoukh, who has a long-standing reputation as a leader of a vast network of thugs with ties to security apparatuses, was previously sentenced in 2014 to 28 years in prison on similar charges, before receiving a presidential pardon in 2018. He came back into the public sphere in 2023 as the new majority shareholder of Falcon Group — one of Egypt’s most prominent private security firms which is regularly hired to secure many official entities and activities. The prosecution’s decisions are based on an investigation into the businessman’s activities, after a New Cairo car dealership owner filed a police report accusing Nakhnkoukh and several of his associates of breaking into his showroom following a financial dispute, assaulting and injuring one of his employees and stealing the surveillance cameras’ storage unit. News of the incident circulated quickly in domestic media. On Tuesday, Nakhnoukh and several others were arrested and ordered detained for four days on charges of  thuggery and intimidation. The businessman denied the charges, claiming that the incident was due to a financial dispute over an outstanding payment for a villa on the North Coast, which the dealership owner had failed to settle. According to the prosecution statement , police found and seized the stolen video storage unit, along with two automatic rifles, a machine gun, a pistol, several air rifles and air pistols, and nearly a thousand rounds of ammunition. Additionally, five unlicensed communication devices and ten antiquities were confiscated. But these were not the most serious findings. The statement indicated that examination of the defendants’ phones revealed evidence of kidnapping, sexual assault, unlawful detention, physical torture, coercion to sign documents as well as possession of unlicensed weapons and ammunition, torture devices and wild animals. The prosecution renewed the detention of all the defendants for 15 days and added in another statement that it has frozen the detainees’ assets, including movable assets, stocks, bonds, securities, safety deposit boxes, electronic wallets and real estate, and banned them from travel until a verdict is reached. The statement said the investigations proved that Nakhnoukh and others led “a criminal gang to impose control, engage in thuggery through force and threats, and disrupt public order. They used a security company as a front for their activities and used money and weapons to facilitate them.” Meanwhile, lawyer Osama Aboul Magd, said in televised comments on Al-Youm Hona Al-Qahera program on Sunday night that he might withdraw from representing Nakhnoukh in light of the prosecution’s bigger findings. Nakhnoukh’s detention has been followed closely by media outlets. Beside his widespread fame in the world of private security, Nakhnoukh has a long-standing reputation for his connections with the security agencies and indications that he has been leading a network of thugs that found increased power post-2011. Nakhnoukh was previously arrested in 2012 and convicted on charges similar to the current ones — thuggery, possession of weapons and possession of wild animals, which he is often photographed with. He was sentenced in 2014 to 28 years in prison before President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pardoned him and ended his sentence 4 years later. After the pardon, Nakhnoukh returned to the public sphere in the image of a businessman, especially after his acquisition in 2023 of a majority share in Falcon Group, one of Egypt’s largest and most prominent private security firms. Founded in 2006 by the Commercial International Bank as a joint stock company, Falcon Group has expanded over the past two decades to include seven specialized companies serving over 1,500 clients including embassies, banks, universities and government facilities, employing thousands of former police and military officers. The company has been hired to secure many major and official events, including numerous foreign delegation visits, festivals, visits and tours by ministers and officials and even international celebrities, such as Lionel Messi’s 2017 visit to the pyramids. The prosecution concluded its statement by affirming its commitment to firmly upholding the rule of law, emphasizing that the law is above everyone, regardless of status. The post Prominent Falcon Group owner assets frozen, banned from travel over thuggery, gang leadership charges first appeared on Mada Masr .