AN Egyptian court on Sunday ordered the retrial of 31 businessmen and politicians who were given jail sentences last year in the biggest corruption scandal in two decades. The cessation court annulled the sentences linked to $470m dollars in fraudulent loans after defence lawyers argued that police had pursued their clients without Central Bank approval, sources close to the court said. The state security court on June 25 sentenced three members of parliament from President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party to ten years in jail and another MP to a one-year suspended sentence for their role in the scam. It sentenced 27 other bankers and businessmen to jail terms ranging between one year and 15 years in jail with hard labour. The cessation court ordered the 31 to be retried in the same court, with 15 staying behind bars and 13 of them released pending the retrial, while three remained at large. No date was set for a new trial. – AFP