Egyptian authorities said on Thursday they had blocked a scheme aimed at financing the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and alleged a link to the imprisoned founder and former chairman of dairy and juice firm Juhayna, Safwan Thabet.
The scheme aimed to funnel funds using Thabet’s companies into “terrorist activities,” the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that $8.4 million and ammunition had been found in an apartment in Giza, across the Nile from central Cairo. It described Thabet as a “Brotherhood leader.”
عاش رجال وزارة الداخليه
الداخليه تلقي القبض علي يحيي مهران وتحرز اموال واسلحة الاخواني صفوت ثابت رئيس جهينة
بعد استغلال شركتة في عمليات نقل اموال للاخوان
لمحاولة منه لاحياء تنظيم جماعة الاخوان من جديد في مصر
وقامت الداخليه باجهاض المحاولة والقبض عليه متلبس#شنطة_صفوان_ثابت pic.twitter.com/Wd0h53256J— menaa 3ly (@XBlieberXl) September 30, 2021
The Thabet family have denied any wrongdoing in statements on social media. A lawyer for Juhayna could not be reached.
Thabet was arrested in December, and his son Seifeldin was detained in February after taking over as chairman.
Juhayna is a household name in Egypt and the country’s largest dairy products and juice producer.
The Brotherhood has been subject to a sweeping crackdown since then-army chief Abdel Fattah El-Sisi led their ouster from power in 2013.
Juhayna continued to operate normally after El-Sisi became president the following year.