A suspect was arrested in the murder of Egyptian top banker Nevine Lotfy, chief executive of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank-Egypt (ADIB), police said on Wednesday.
Lotfy, 64, was found murdered on Tuesday by multiple stabs wounds inside her villa in a gated compound in the October 6 city on the outskirts of Cairo.
The suspect was a former employee worked in the compound, but police had not yet released his name.
The theft was the motive in the murder of Lotfy, security sources said.
Egyptian authorities on Tuesday stepped up efforts to solve the mystery of Lotfy’s death.
Prosecutors started interrogating several people including the victim’s Indonesian housemaid, Egyptian chauffeur, and security personnel of the compound.
Prosecution also asked mobile phone companies to transcribe Lotfy’s recent calls in an attempt to identify the murderer.
Lotfy was living alone in the two-storey villa since her two sons left to work outside Egypt, neighbours said. She was on good terms with others, they added.
Initial investigations showed that the killer had sneaked into the villa through the window of a bathroom and left the same way after committing the murder, security sources said. He then drove out of the compound in Lotfy’s car.
The killer is believed to have abandoned the car about one kilometre away from the compound in Cairo-Alexandria desert road, apparently in fear of being tracked down by police, they added.
Loutfy began her banking career with Citibank in March 1976 where she joined the Cairo office as a Financial Analyst. She graduated with a BA in Economics from the American University in Cairo.
She had since gained extensive international experience in the US, Europe, and in emerging markets. Primary areas of her expertise were local corporate, small and medium-scale business management, credit risk, and capital management.
In 2008, Loutfy became the managing director and CEO of ADIB Egypt, as the first ever female head of an Islamic bank. She led the bank’s transformation into a fully Sharia-compliant and a modern customer-orientated financial institution, according to ADIB website.
