Joseph Smouha, 81-year-old British Jew who became a refugee from Egypt in the aftermath of the Sinai-Suez campaign after spending most of his life building a fortune reputed to be in the vicinity of $50,000, 000 was reported today the be ill with the ‘flu in an unheated Paris flat. His financial situation was described as “desperate” and his wife told correspondents that they had lost everything when they fled Egypt.
The claims of the Smouha family, some 55 descendants of Joseph Smouha, reportedly exceeding 16 million pounds, for a large tract of land on which are located residential, business and recreational property, are believed holding up the signing of the recently negotiated Arglo-United Arab Republic pact. The Egyptians listed the Smouha holdings as “agricultural property” valued at about $300 an acre when the pact was drawn, but the British subsequently discovered that it was developed land worth in excess of $56, 000 an acre. The Smouhas were the richest British Jewish family in Egypt.
Meanwhile, Mr. Smouha’s eldest son declared here last night that “The British Government has not consulted us about our property. We had no say in this matter. I am trying to get information as to what is happening from the Foreign Office.”
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