Egypt's public prosecution ordered late Friday the detention of Hassan Malek, a prominent Muslim Brotherhood figure and businessman, for 15 days on charges of harming Egypt's economy through amassing foreign currency and smuggling it out of the country.

According to a statement issued by the interior ministry Friday, Malek and four other members of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested Thursday after the National Security Agency received information that the group was planning to "destabilise the price of the US dollar" in Egypt.

The five are accused of using foreign exchange companies affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood to smuggle money out of the country.

Egypt is facing a currency crisis due to what many economists consider to be an overvalued pound. 

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Malek, who was not charged along with other leading Brotherhood figures with criminal wrongdoing, has kept a low profile.  

However, his assets have been frozen since September 2014 when the North Cairo Criminal Court upheld a decision by the prosecutor general to freeze the assets of prominent Muslim Brotherhood leaders.