Top Muslim Brotherhood leaders suffer from corruption and hypocrisy, a former Brotherhood leader told an Egyptian news outlet. Ibrahim Rabie served on the Brotherhood's "Elite Committee" before leaving the group in 2011, giving him insight into the group's leadership and the mentality.
Former Egyptian Judge Waleed Sharaby, who has maintained close ties with American Brotherhood figures, is part of the group's "Elite Committee," Rabie told the Egyptian newspaper Youm7. Sharaby has never publicly admitted membership in the Brotherhood despite close ties with its members.
This committee penetrated the ranks of Egypt's elite business figures and soccer stars. Many of these people publicly deny membership in the Brotherhood in the initial phases of their initiation, Rabie said.
He corroborated an April 2011 email sent by Sidney Blumenthal to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stating that the Muslim Brotherhood's top leaders were in contact with Salafi jihadists. But Rabie noted that the Brotherhood viewed the Salafis as competitors.
Rabie described corruption, including fraud, among members of the Brotherhood's top echelon, called Guidance Bureau, claiming that it spent more money than it took in from dues from its members. The Brotherhood received foreign funds in addition to its investments in Persian Gulf countries, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
He accused specific figures of involvement in arms and drug trafficking, along with trading in cement and iron.
One, Youssef Nada, co-founded and ran Bank al-Taqwa based in The Bahamas. Swiss and Italian police found a phone book inside Nada's Swiss home during a raid following 9/11.That book included the names of Brotherhood and al-Qaida leaders. U.S. officials tagged the bank as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist, saying it was involved in funding Hamas and al-Qaida. Nada has denied being involved with terror finance and in 2015 he and Bank al-Taqwa were removed from the U.S. terror list.
The bank since has been liquidated.
Despite the Brotherhood's terror ties and history of terror finance, Rabie said it has been able to spend billions globally to whitewash its image.