Prosecutors have accused the sons of the disposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, of misappropriating profits from the country’s gas sales to Israel.

Gamal Mubarak is suspected of taking a 5 per cent of earnings from the gas deal, according to the Egyptian Al-Masri al-Yaum newspaper. His brother, Alaa Mubarak, is suspected of taking a 2.5 per cent cut, while an unnamed businessman is believed to have taken a further 5 per cent, says the paper.

The gas deliveries to Israel have long been shrouded in controversy. Many Egyptians believed that the deal, brokered after the 1979 peace accord, sold the gas off cheaply, with corruption further reducing the money going into state coffers.

The pipeline transporting the gas was attacked during the political unrest that ended Mubarak’s 30-year reign and again after his disposal. In both cases, supply was interrupted.