Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy is out: Supply Minister Khaled Hanafy submitted his resignation from government, announcing at a press conference on Thursday (runtime 02:41). “Holding public office is not a luxury … but a burden,” Hanafy said, reading out a prepared statement. Hanafy resigned after a cabinet meeting on Thursday which, according to Al Masry Al Youm, involved a heated exchange between Hanafy and Trade and Industry Ministry Tarek Kabil. Hanafy reportedly attacked Kabil, saying the General Organization for Export and Import Control, which is under Kabil’s authority, is the entity responsible for approving wheat shipments.

The resignation came barely four days before the House of Representatives is due to begin hearings on a report it commissioned into allegations that mns in state funding was used to purchase wheat that did not exist in this year’s domestic harvest.

Hanafy’s resignation seemed inevitable on Thursday morning with an Al Masry Al Youm report from 10am CLT suggesting he was going to resign at the cabinet meeting scheduled later that day. Al Mal suggests Hanafy was “forced” to submit his resignation during the meeting, at which he reportedly submitted documents proving his innocence from any wrongdoing regarding the wheat corruption investigation and the issue of his hotel accommodation. Reuters’ team in Cairo prepared a timeline of how events surrounding the wheat corruption investigation unfolded over the past two years.

The House of Representatives report on the issue accuses Hanafy of both mismanagement and misrepresenting facts about the success of the bread subsidies system, but does not make any direct criminal accusations. The report accuses him of presiding over a ministry which allows the mixing of imported wheat and domestically harvested crops, something which Hanafy has vehemently denied in the past. The report also alleges that Hanafy’s policies increased the state’s subsidy bill to EGP 40 bn in FY 2014-15 from EGP 35 bn in FY 2013-14 despite claiming to have cut the state’s subsidies 30%. The report’s final tally on the 2016 harvest: 200K tonnes of wheat worth EGP 560 mn at nine silos and shounas inspected remains unaccounted for. Al Borsa has published a copy of the 575-page report (pdf) which will be discussed tomorrow by the House.

Hanafy could face a criminal probe, a reportedly “informed government source” told Al Masry Al Youm, without providing further details.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Essam Fayed is placing the blame for the wheat corruption scandal entirely on Hanafy, according to Al Mal. Fayed says the agriculture ministry’s role is solely that of production, monitoring, and research whereas Hanafy headed the committee responsible for receipt of wheat from farmers. The supply and agriculture ministries had both released antagonistic and conflicting statements concerning this year’s harvest, as we previously reported.