Now that the dust has settled on Tahrir Square, I, and many of the protesters, are keeping our focus on holding those who ransacked Egypt accountable and on developing a new Egypt in its place.

Egyptian media, now free of government propaganda, is abuzz with former government officials exposing chilling details about the outrageous extent of the corruption that plagued the Mubarak regime, particularly the final years.

As details emerge, it is becoming apparent that Hosni Mubarak himself did not set out to be a corrupt leader, though like his predecessors, it is safe to say he set out to be a dictator, even if a benevolent one in his own mind. But the burden of absolute power and the lack of checks and balances gradually took over and Hosni became desensitized to corruption under his nose that would have bothered him in early years. When a leader lacks the legitimacy that can only be earned through the trust of the people, he is forced to surround himself with a cadre of trusted subjects that ensure his sustainability and prosperity. In turn, corrupt members of that cadre are presented with a golden opportunity to abuse their connection to the big boss and his dependence on their loyalty.

Many political insiders are confirming what many in the public long suspected, that Gamal Mubarak was largely the driving force behind his father’s corruption woes, at least when it came to the exuberance of the Mubarak family’s financial corruption. Gamal, supported by his mother, introduced many of his business associates into powerful positions in government (the ruling DNP party and the Cabinet).  In turn, they dug their fangs deeper into Egypt’s coffers with no one able to question them.

Gamal is not the only villain, nor did he introduce corruption into Mubarak’s regime. Other long-serving high officials had long felt a sense of entitlement, and for many years had all but canonized their share of bribes, commissions, and short sales. But Gamal and his business politician friends took the game to an astronomical level. Gamal and his cronies are also accused of being the masterminds of the political corruption that stunned the nation in Mubarak’s final years, particularly the mass rigging of the Egyptian Parliament.

How bad was the financial corruption? Not even counting the repercussions of long-term government mismanagement on the Egyptian GDP, the answer is in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars – money stolen from the Egyptian people by a few dozen families.

The Egyptian people had long been told that Egypt is a poor country when they complained about the hardships of daily life. Today, they are discovering that there is more to the story, and they are getting ready to take action.