Egypt’s stock market incurred huge losses the last week in September after a Cairo criminal court on Sept. 15 ordered the arrest of nine people, including the two sons of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, on charges involving stock market violations. Also arrested were Yasser el-Mallawany, a board member of the Cairo-based investment bank EFG Hermes, Hassan Heikal, a former board member of the same bank, and Amr el-Qadi, head of investor relations and risk management at Qalaa Holdings, a leading investment company.

They are accused of failing to disclose agreements made to acquire shares in Al-Watany Bank of Egypt through front companies. They allegedly made illegally acquired profits of about 500 million Egyptian pounds (around $33 million) through the purchasing and selling of Al-Watany shares. The nine, who deny the charges, were released on Sept. 20 after each posted bail for 100,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,570). The case was opened in 2012.

On Sept. 16, the day after their arrests, the Egyptian Exchange plunged by 3.6%, with market capitalization losing 25 billion pounds ($1.3 billion). The exchange continued to fall the week of Sept. 17, with the drop in market capitalization eventually totally 69.5 billion pounds ($3.8 billion). According to analysts, the negative effects on the Egyptian stock market by the Al-Watany case is due to the alleged involvement of “big names” in it.

“I expect that these effects will persist until the case is closed,” Ahmed el-Shami, an economist and professor of feasibility studies at Ain Shams University, told Al-Monitor. “If the defendants are convicted, I predict that this will have a very negative repercussion on the local stock market.”