Ashraf Marwan Egyptian billionaire Date of Birth: 02.02.1944 Country: Egypt

1. Biography of Ashraf Marwan
2. Marriage and Business Partnership
3. Allegations of Espionage
4. The Mysterious Death

Biography of Ashraf Marwan

Ashraf Marwan was an Egyptian billionaire who was speculated to be an Israeli spy or possibly an Egyptian double agent. He was married to Mona Gamal Abdel Nasser, the daughter of former Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Marwan was born on February 2, 1944, in Cairo, Egypt. He obtained his doctoral degree in economics in the United Kingdom.

Marriage and Business Partnership

In the 1960s, Marwan married Mona Nasser, one of the five children of former Egyptian Prime Minister and President, Gamal Abdel Nasser. Despite Nasser's hostility towards the British and Israelis, it is believed that Marwan had connections with Israel, which he ended in the 1970s without any political consequences. After the death of his influential father-in-law, Marwan was appointed as the chief of staff to the third Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. As one of Egypt's leading industrialists, he also became a business partner of Mohamed al-Fayed, the famous owner of 'Harrod's' department store, whose son Dodi Fayed tragically died in a car accident in 1997 along with Princess Diana.

Allegations of Espionage

In September 2002, Israeli historian Ahron Bregman published a book in which he claimed that Marwan was an Israeli spy in Cairo. In subsequent interviews with the Egyptian newspaper 'Al-Ahram', Bregman again named Marwan as a presumed source of information for Israel. Despite the publicity of these allegations, Marwan seemed to have avoided any repercussions from the Egyptian authorities.

The Mysterious Death

On October 6, 2004, two years after being accused of espionage, Israeli intelligence agents observed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warmly receiving Marwan. This led Bregman to believe that Marwan was a double agent. Marwan's relationship with Israeli intelligence was also the subject of a book published in 2003 by Howard Blum, who learned about Marwan's activities from former head of Israeli military intelligence during the Yom Kippur War, General Eli Zeira.

In April 1973, Marwan allegedly warned Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, about Egypt and Syria planning a surprise attack on Israel on May 15. This information proved to be false, and Israel lost $35 million in preparations for the attack. However, on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, Marwan again warned Mossad about Egypt and Syria's impending attack, which partially turned out to be true.

Ashraf Marwan passed away on June 27, 2007, in London. The cause of death was an aortic rupture after he fell from the window of his fifth-floor apartment. Whether it was murder or suicide remains unclear, but given that Marwan became the fourth Egyptian involved in high politics to die under suspicious circumstances in London, his death is considered suspicious. Marwan's eldest son, Gamal, believes his father was murdered, a belief shared by the police. Prominent figures such as religious leader Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Gamal Mubarak, and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman attended Marwan's funeral in Egypt.