Government hospitals were allegedly among the eight hospitals and clinics busted for being complicit in an international organ trafficking ring, sources close to the investigation told Al Shorouk. These reportedly included Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital and National Institute Of Urology and Nephrology. Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed was quick to deny any involvement of a government hospital in the case, stating that even though doctors who have been arrested do have rotations at those two hospitals, that does not mean the institutions were complicit. He insists that all hospitals involved were private sector. Other sources from the ministry tell the newspaper that the ministry’s unit charged with monitoring organ trafficking had not met in over a year.

In a surprising twist, shortly after making those statements, Megahed was suspended from his position for three months due to “administrative offenses,” which remain a mystery, AMAY reported. Sources close to the matter alleged that investigations into the offenses are ongoing and said that Megahed will be called in soon to answer to the allegations against him. It is not clear whether this is related to the organ trafficking case.