Egypt's Assistant Minister of Justice in charge of illicit gain affairs, Assem el-Gohari, decided Tuesday to refer former Culture Minister Farouq Hosni to the Criminal Court on corruption charges, official news agency MENA reported.

The ex-minister was also forced to pay back 18 million Egyptian pounds (about 2.95 million U.S. dollars), as he couldn't prove the legal sources of such amount during the investigations.

Hosni was appointed as culture minister in 1987 and left along with Mubarak's administration that was toppled in February, 2011.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak along with his interior minister were sentenced on June 2 to life terms for charges of killing protesters in the massive demonstrations.