Bab Darna Scandal: CEO Suspected of Funneling Victims’ Funds to Panama

The Bab Darna case apparently has not finished revealing its secrets. During a meeting with Attorney General Hassan Daki, representatives of the victims of the Bab Darna scandal mentioned the embezzlement of funds by Mohamed El Ouardi to Panama and requested the opening of an investigation, reports Hespress. They claim that the owner of the real estate company used the funds in a Panamanian investment group called "BOD CAPITAL", whose headquarters is located in Panama. The public prosecutor’s office has entrusted an investigation to the National Brigade of the Judicial Police of Casablanca, following these new allegations.

These new elements follow a request from the defense of the victims during the trial of the accused before the Court of Appeal of Casablanca. It requested that an experiment be carried out on the bank accounts of the companies belonging to the accused. A request that was made after the appearance of new documents highlighting the transfer of funds between several countries. According to the explanations of the lawyer Mourad Elajouti, who filed this request, it is a question of knowing the path of the funds and the transfers made from the bank accounts of the accused and their subsidiaries.

The Bab Darna real estate group had marketed nearly a dozen fictitious real estate projects, of all standards, between 2017 and 2018 without owning the slightest land where the buildings would be erected. In total, more than 1,200 reservists were defrauded. In addition to Mohamed El Ouardi, the general manager, O.E.B, the commercial director, H.E.B, the administrative and financial director, A.A, the technical director, F.O, the accountant, M.T, and a notary, M.M. are also being prosecuted in custody in this scam estimated at more than 400 million dirhams.