Egypt’s Very Own Iron Woman

After Two Decades of Evasion, Hoda Abdel-Moneim Returns to Face it All

By Ingy Fahmy

Egypt’s “Iron Woman”, Hoda Abdel-Moneim, has finally returned to Egypt after being on the run for more than two decades. She was arrested at Cairo International Airport last August when she boarded off a flight arriving from Greece. The infamous “Iron Woman” of the 1980s suddenly came back without any introduction or notification to the public. Judicial authorities placed Hoda in custody in Qanatir Khairiya prison in Cairo, where she will be detained there until her retrial begins.

Hoda Abdel-Moneim, who faces charges of forgery and embezzlement of up to 600 million Egyptian pounds in loans from five Egyptian banks, stood trial in September and her hearing was delayed to November 21st upon request of her lawyer, Ragaai Attia. Abdel-Moneim pleaded not guilty, averring that she has repaid all her debts to the five banks and has also paid taxes to the government. Hoda has been ordered to remain in custody pending her third hearing in November.

The tale of Hoda Abdel-Moneim began in 1980 when she established her own investment company known as Hodaco Misr. Her company started an endorsement campaign for luxurious and exclusive housing projects in the posh Cairo suburbs of Heliopolis, Maadi, and Al-Haram in Giza. Hodaco Misr was able to attain a 20 million pound loan from the Egyptian Land Bank and the Suez Canal Bank, along with receiving millions of pounds from people paying down-payments for investing and reserving houses. Three years later, in 1983, Hoda started stumbling across obstacles when the socialist prosecutor-general (SPG) indicted her of forging official bank documents and failing to distribute estate to those who paid. Thus, the SPG ordered Abdel-Moneim’s property to be detained, and she was prohibited from exiting the country until further investigations were to take place.

Hoda Abdel-Moneim, however, still managed to leave the country regardless of her being a flight risk. At the time, her story created media frenzy. Local press later christened her as the “Iron Woman”, and alleged her of utilizing her influential connections to pull strings in order to allow her to flee the country without being stopped or questioned upon departure. It was rumored that she was concealed behind the attire of an Islamic women’s gab (niqab).

Mustafa El Said, a former economy minister said, “There is a growing belief among officials of the government of Prime Minister Ahmed Nazeif that businesspeople who fled the country should be encouraged to return and repay their debts”. This belief is shared among many government officials and the citizens of Egypt. It is believed that it is the government’s aim to allow them to return and settle any outstanding loans with the exchange of a pardon so that they will not face prosecution. The return of the “Iron Woman” has made it clear that it is the government’s initiative is aiding those who have made a mistake in the past and wish to repent it.