Anti-Morsi protests last year in Cairo
Anti-Morsi protests last year in Cairo Gigi Ibrahim

CAIRO – The Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of illegally receiving 10 billion Egytian pounds ($1.5 billion) from the United States government. Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah ordered an immediate investigation into the charges on Thursday.

Lawyers Mohamed Ali Abd al-Wahab and Yasser Mohamed Sayab filed the complaint, in which they quoted Mitt Romney — the Republican candidate in the recent presidential election — as saying that the Obama administration had supported Egypt’s Brotherhood with $1.5 billion.

The lawyers also claimed that the Brotherhood has armed militias that may be the so-called “third party” behind the violent chaos that has occurred during and after the revolution. The complaint quotes a former interior minister as saying that the Brotherhood and Hamas burned 28 police stations and stormed prisons during the January 25 revolution.

These armed militias are trained in the desert between Alexandria and Marsa Matrouh, the lawyers alleged.

The Muslim Brotherhood has not commented on the accusations, nor has Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, a longtime member of the organization.