[JURIST] Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi [BBC profile] on Saturday accepted [Aljazeera report] the resignation of his prime minister and and his cabinet. The resignation comes after former Agriculture Minister was detained [JURIST report] on Monday, after an investigation headed by the country’s prosecutor revealed that the minister and others received bribes amounting to over USD $1 million. The detention of former minister Salah el-Din Helal came after he resigned at the request of Sisi. Helal allegedly took bribes [Al Jazeera report] from businessmen to allow them to illegally purchase and acquire land within the nation. Sisi informed the cabinet upon their resignation to remain involved in a caretaker role until a new cabinet is assembled.

Corruption remains a problem in Egyptian politics. In July an Egyptian court sentenced former prime minister Ahmed Nazif to five years in prison [JURIST report] during a retrial graft charges. Nazif served during the presidency of Hosni Mubarak [BBC profile] until the start of the Egyptian Uprising [Al Jazeera timeline] in 2011, and was convicted of using his position to make illicit gains in excess of 64 million Egyptian pounds, or approximately USD $8.2 million. In February the Cairo Criminal Court acquitted [JURIST report] Nazif and former minister of interior Habib el-Adly of all charges against them. Both defendants were charged with “squandering public funds and profiteering” after allegedly making an illegal deal with German Company UTSCH to sell license plates for higher than market value. In June of last year an Egyptian court acquitted [JURIST report] el-Adly of charges that he ordered police officials to find prospective top-paying buyers for land he personally owned.