TikTok's viewership in Egypt has reached nearly 40 million users.

 

TikTok logo and its owner, ByteDance.

Prison and confiscation await them... Details reveal the secret of TikTok celebrities' earnings in Egypt.

The Egyptian Ministry of Interior arrested a number of TikTok celebrities in a large-scale security campaign. Investigations revealed the involvement of these celebrities in money laundering operations, as some exploited their influence and fame on social media to launder millions of Egyptian pounds through devious methods including fake ads, fake companies, and deceptive marketing deals.

The Economic Affairs and Money Laundering Prosecution Office of the Public Prosecutor began investigating 10 TikTok celebrities who were arrested. Some of them were found in possession of narcotics and unlicensed firearms. Electronic devices used to create and manage social media accounts followed by thousands of young people were also seized.

The Ministry of Interior announced legal action against Jordanian content creator Suzy, on charges of laundering 15 million Egyptian pounds. Preliminary investigations have revealed the involvement of another content creator, identified as "Madahem," in money laundering amounting to 65 million Egyptian pounds. The investigations also confirmed the involvement of one of the most famous content creators on TikTok, identified as "Shaker," in laundering millions of pounds. But how does money laundering work? How do these celebrities earn millions of pounds from creating content on social media? And what are the expected penalties?

Dr. Karim El Omda, a professor of political economy and lecturer at a private Egyptian university, stated that the recent phenomenon of TikTok celebrities earning millions of pounds through social media platforms represents a new development. He explained that some TikTok celebrities have announced daily profits of up to one million Egyptian pounds, which is abnormal. He suggested that this funding may have come from outside Egypt for money laundering.

He pointed out that some content creators launch fictitious projects worth millions of pounds, only to close them shortly after achieving their goal, harming the economy and wasting real investment opportunities. He added that this phenomenon has serious social consequences, as it gives young people a misleading image of the possibility of making quick financial gains without real effort. It also encourages deviance, as well as the dissemination of content that offends public taste and violates modesty.

For his part, Engineer Ziad Abdel Tawab, Assistant Secretary-General of the Cabinet for Digital Transformation, revealed that TikTok has reached nearly 40 million users in Egypt, a huge number. He explained that this widespread popularity has not always resulted in legitimate profits, but rather has led to the emergence of money laundering networks.

These networks represent a lifeline for people who possess large sums of money obtained illegally and are unable to deposit them into their bank accounts due to financial oversight. This is where the agents, with whom a number of TikTok celebrities deal, come in. He explained that the process begins by sending virtual gifts to the celebrities via live broadcasts on TikTok at agreed-upon times. The funds are then returned to their owners after the agency fee is deducted, and are subsequently transferred to bank accounts normally.

He pointed out that one of the strongest indications of money laundering is the spread of videos with unattractive content, yet their creators receive large sums of money as gifts from anonymous accounts. He emphasized that TikTok differs from YouTube, as TikTok relies on gifts as its primary means of profit, while YouTube's profits come from ads embedded within the content.

Regarding the expected penalties for these celebrities, Cassation Attorney Wahdan Al-Baz asserts that Article 14 of the Anti-Money Laundering Law No. 80 of 2002 and its amendments stipulates that anyone who intentionally transfers, transfers, conceals, or disguises the nature of funds obtained through a crime, while being aware of their illicit source, with the intent to conceal this source or assist a person in evading accountability, shall be punished.

The penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of not less than seven years, and a fine of not less than one hundred thousand pounds and not more than five million pounds, or the equivalent of the value of the funds involved in the crime, whichever is greater. He stressed that the law allows for a ruling to confiscate the funds involved in the crime and the tools used in committing it, in addition to prohibiting the practice of certain activities or closing the facilities used in money laundering operations, if the crime is linked to commercial entities or activities.