Former Essaouira Mayor Faces New Embezzlement Charges in Morocco

New legal troubles for Mohamed El Ferraâ cited in a new case of embezzlement of public funds. In a statement to Al Akhbar, the president of the National Authority for the Protection of Public Property in Morocco, Mohamed El Ghalloussi, said that the investigating judge in charge of financial crimes at the Court of Appeal of Marrakech has decided to prosecute Mohamed El Feraâ, mayor of Essaouira between 2009 and 2015. His management of the city is called into question.

This decision was taken following the conclusions of the investigation opened in this context by the judicial police of Essaouira. The opening of this investigation follows an anonymous complaint reporting several dysfunctions in the management of the town hall of Essaouira. We can mention among others, several suspicious files, such as the market for the construction of the fish market, the transfer of a plot of communal land to a private actor, the rental of a property at a derisory sum to a large restaurant in the city, the suspicions on a market concerning the technical study of a road construction project which would have mobilized a budget of more than 3 million dirhams.

In addition to this new trial, Mohamed El Ferraâ will be tried before the Court of Appeal of Rabat as part of another case for which he had received a 5-year prison sentence. A judgment that will be overturned by the Court of Cassation and which consequently opens the way to a new trial. In the past, the former president of the commune of Essaouira had been accused of embezzlement of public property when he was at the head of the General Mutual of Public Administration Personnel (MGPAP). He will be acquitted by the Court of Appeal of Rabat in 2016.