Elderly Real Estate Developer Arrested for Alleged Fraud Affecting 500+ Buyers in Morocco

It all started with the creation by a 70-year-old man of a real estate company in charge of building a residential project on a private family land, located on the road connecting Tiznit to Tafraout. After creating the company, the septuagenarian and his brothers launched a residential project consisting of 560 economic and intermediate housing units. He encouraged potential buyers to make successive down payments into the bank account of his company, while also directly cashing other payments, in cash this time, in his sales office.

Interested, many citizens - civil servants, as well as people from vulnerable and low-income social categories, etc. - invested in this project, before later discovering the disappearance of the septuagenarian, reports Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. This finding prompted several of them to seize the justice system in order to initiate legal proceedings on the project.

On Monday, the services of the Agadir Judicial Police Brigade succeeded in arresting the septuagenarian who had been on the run for several years. After his arrest, he was taken into custody. He will have to answer charges of fraud, fraud and misappropriation of funds. The investigation reveals that the accused had benefited from state support, through the Ministry of Urban Planning and Housing, during the term of the previous government. Support that will ultimately be suspended following several irregularities in his project.