The Egyptian asset seizure committee denied the closure of companies owned by Muslim Brotherhood leader Hassan Malek and his brother Mahmoud Malek. The committee has taken control of the companies, however. Several media outlets have reported that that the companies were shut down. Hassan Malek is the CEO of Malek Group and owns several clothes and furniture stores. The committee stressed that the companies and shops are working at full capacity, adding that employees are paid their salaries regularly and on time. On 15 June, police forces shut down Seoudi and Zad supermarket chains Sunday following allegations that they are owned by members of the Muslim Brotherhood. During the same month, Seoudi reopened its chains. In September, the North Cairo Criminal Court upheld a decision by the prosecutor general to freeze assets of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders along with several other Islamist politicians. In May, the asset seizure committee, which was tasked with assessing the Brotherhood's financial value, had frozen the assets of 30 Muslim Brotherhood figures, 12 associations controlled by the Brotherhood and several of the companies it owned.
