Cairo, Oct 13 (IANS): The Cairo criminal court Wednesday sentenced a close aide of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to seven years in jail and slapped a fine of four billion US dollars.

The court found fugitive businessman Hussein Salem guilty of laundering more than two billion dollars in the Egyptian-Israeli gas deal, Xinhua reported.

He was pronounced guilty in absentia and jailed along with his son and daughter to seven years, the state media reported.

Salem was arrested June 16 in Spain upon an international warrant. He was accused of involvement in exporting natural gas to Israel at lower prices together with former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmi, squandering state funds and illegally gaining financial benefits.

He was also accused of giving properties to former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons in exchange for access to thousands of fedans (a unit of area) of state lands for his lucrative tourist projects.

Salem fled Egypt Feb 3, eight days before Mubarak was forced to step down.