A Malaysian court on Wednesday charged 22 people linked to a banned sect with membership in an organized crime group after allegations that the company they belonged to oversaw the systematic abuse of hundreds of children at its facilities.

Local media reported that the group, which has business interests stretching from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia and Turkey, was run according to a strict hierarchy among its 5,000 members, with leaders dictating who they should marry and when couples could engage in intimate relationships.

His wife Azura Md Yusof, 57, and Adib At-Tarmimi Ashaari, 32, son of the late Islamic preacher Ashaari Mohamad, founder of the group, were also charged in a court in Selayang town in Selangor.

All 22 defendants have pleaded not guilty.