CAIRO, Jan 13 (Aswat Masriya) - The head of a state anti-corruption body said on Wednesday that he has the right to respond to criticism leveled against him by a fact-finding committee formed by the president to look into corruption in government bodies.

The Central Auditing Organisation (CAO) director Hisham Geneina had told Egyptian media that the size of governmental corruption in the period between 2012 and 2015 was EGP 600 billion (around $75 billion).

Geneina also said that the figure is based on the findings of a detailed study conducted by the CAO.

The CAO monitors financial institutions and government bodies and falls directly under the jurisdiction of the presidency.

In response, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ordered that a committee be formed to probe Geneina’s allegations. The fact-finding committee is led by the head of the cabinet-affiliated Administrative Control Authority and comprises representatives of various cabinet ministries.

On Tuesday, the investigative committee released a report challenging Geneina’s claims, saying Geneina’s statements and the CAO’s study are “inaccurate”, “exaggerated” and “lack credibility”.

The fact-finding committee’s report, which was repeatedly read out on state TV on Tuesday, said that Geneina and the CAO are unclear about the length of the period of time during which EGP 600 billion were allegedly embezzled.

Following the release of the fact-finding committee’s report, the CAO director’s lawyer told the Ahram Gate website that Geneina intends to rebuttal the committee’s findings but only after the anniversary of the Jan. 25 Uprising that toppled long-serving president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The lawyer added that Geneina does not want to be accused of inciting protests against the state.

Since Mubarak’s ouster, the anniversary of the Jan. 25 uprising has been marked by protests and consequent clashes between security forces and protesters.

Geneina was appointed in 2012 by then-President Mohamed Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group. Mursi was ousted by the military in 2013 following mass protests against his rule.

This is not the first time that Geneina has been the centre of media spotlight. In response to statements he made about alleged corruption in the Interior Ministry, the Judges Club and the General Prosecution, Justice Minister Ahmed al-Zend, who headed the Justice Club at the time, sued Geneina in a defamation case.

In July 2015, President Sisi issued a law enabling him to remove the heads of state oversight bodies, including the CAO director.