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An Egyptian security official says Egypt's former top auditor, who was dismissed in March, has been summoned for questioning by the country's national security prosecutors over statements he made estimating the cost of corruption.

Hesham Genena will be questioned on Tuesday on allegations of spreading false news after a newspaper quoted him in December as saying corruption cost the country 600 billion Egyptian pounds ($67.6 billion) in 2015.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi dismissed Genena from his position as head of the Central Auditing Organization after a commission investigated his report, concluding that Genena had misled the public. Critics say the moves intend to silence dissent.

Genena later said that he was misquoted, that the figure covered four years and that it was arrived at following an exhaustive study.