A court in Egypt has ordered the confiscation of money, assets and companies owned by leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. The confiscated assets include ones owned by ousted president Mohamed Morsy, head of the Brotherhood Mohamed Badie and deputy chairman Khayrat El Shater. The three Brotherhood leaders are serving long term jail sentences for inciting violence and terrorism. CGTN's Yasser Hakim has the details.

The latest court rule has hit the economic and financial powers of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

WAEL NEGM LAWYER "The court ruling is based on article 22 for 2018 which gave committee the power to allocate all the companies owned by the brotherhood that were used to invite violence and destabilise the economy. Also accusations of smuggling hard currency out of the country to weaken the economy."

The list announced by court unveiled the immense business empire being run by the Islamist group.

Assets owned by 1580 members of the outlawed group have been confiscated, including ousted president and brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsy. There are 118 companies from different sectors, including industrial production, tourism and real estate, 1138 NGOs, 104 Schools, 69 hospitals and medical centers, 33 news channels and news websites, with a total worth of $3.5 billion.

The brotherhood empire includes multi billion food industries groups Juhayna and Seoudi Markets chain as well as famous electronic franchises Radio Shack, Compu Me and Mobile Shop.

KARIM ADEL, PRESIDENT INT'L ACADEMY FOR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT "The brotherhood built the empire with the money of the Egyptians. They receive donations from the people through their NGOs and charity organisations. Instead of the money going to the poor, sick or elderly as advertised, they actually go to the Brotherhood companies and economic assets. The profits and revenue is then used to fund terrorist activities."

But what will become of these tens of companies and assets?

YASSER HAKIM CAIRO, EGYPT "Well there are three options for the government, either to close down these projects completely, or sell it over to the private sector. The third option is to set up a board to run these projects and revenue would go to the state budget."

The government could be planning a mix of the three.

WAEL NEGM LAWYER "These companies will be managed by a special committee established by the state. They will correct all deficiencies in these institutions and the income will be poured in the legal channels. They will sell some assets and close down some NGOs, but the committee made it clear all workers will keep their jobs or will be offered alternative employment opportunities."

The crackdown includes companies listed at the stock exchange. How has the market reacted to it?

KARIM ADEL, PRESIDENT INT'L ACADEMY FOR TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT "The stock exchange has not been affected by the court decision. This decision will actually benefit the economy because the Brotherhood economic activities have been harming the country. They evaded taxes, created a large shadow economy and aimed at destabilising the society. Their schools for example were preaching extremism to students. All this will change now."

Experts say that's not the end of it. They expect even more Brotherhood assets to be unveiled and confiscated soon. Yasser Hakim, CGTN Cairo.