Casablanca Notary Arrested: Fugitive in Real Estate Fraud Case Caught After Years on the Run

It took the victim’s alert for the police to arrest this 43-year-old notary. She was able to unmask the fugitive who was moving freely, but covered from head to toe, dressed in an Islamist burka, reports Al Akhbar. She followed her to the home where she was hiding, in Had Soualem, on the outskirts of Casablanca. Several national arrest warrants had been issued against her.

The notary is involved in a real estate spoliation case dating back to 2016. The deed of donation had been used to change the ownership of a building. According to the prosecution, the notary had authenticated a false deed, which canceled the first one before depositing it with the Land Registry. The investigating judge at the Casablanca Court of Appeal had referred the main defendant and her accomplice, a Moroccan residing abroad (MRE) aged 66, before the Criminal Chamber of the same jurisdiction. The two accused were prosecuted on provisional release for forgery and use of forgery in an authentic deed.

Subsequently, the notary was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having "validated a false deed of revocation on a donation already made". Her accomplice received the same sentence.