Egypt's general prosecution ordered on Wednesday the four-day detention pending investigation of four supply ministry officials on charges of receiving bribes from food commodity trading firms.

The defendants are the chairman of the state-owned Food Industries Holding Company (FIHC), his office manager, a supply ministry spokesman and a supply ministry adviser responsible for coordination with parliament.

Egypt's state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday that the officials have been arrested.

The officials are accused of receiving EGP 2 million in bribes from food supply firms in return for issuing direct supply orders and facilitating payment of dues.

The case is not the first in recent years to involve corruption within the supply ministry.

In 2016, then-minister of supply Khaled Hanafy resigned over corruption and graft in the wheat supply sector. Earlier this year, Hanafy was removed from a legal case investigating the alleged corruption.

The Administrative Control Authority, which is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations within state bodies, has been waging a state-wide campaign on corruption in recent years.

In 2015, then-minister of agriculture Salah Helal and his office manager were arrested on corruption charges, and were sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2017.