French Court Increases Sentences for Scammers Who Posed as Moroccan Royal Ambassador

The verdict has been delivered. Unlike the Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) criminal court, the Versailles Court of Appeal has shown severity. Tried for fraudulently abusing the weakness or ignorance of a winemaker, Hugues B., who was experiencing psychiatric delusions, Ahmed Z., a former police officer, 54 years old, was sentenced to two years of suspended imprisonment, reports Le Parisien. He was absent from the trial because he was hospitalized. He had been sentenced in the first instance to eighteen months in prison with probation. His accomplice Choukri G., a former intermittent performer acquitted in Nanterre, was sentenced to twelve months of suspended prison. The Court obligates both men to repair the damages caused to the victim, amounting to more than 107,000 euros for Ahmed and 20,000 euros for Choukri.

The facts attributed to the two men took place between 2007-2012. Ahmed and Choukri met Hugues B. in Antony (Hauts-de-Seine), and made him believe that he was the ambassador of the Moroccan royal family, that he had become president of the intergalactic council, "UN" or the privileged ally of former US President Barack Obama. "It was enough for Ahmed to enter into these delusions to make him perform harmful acts," explained the advocate general during the appeal hearing on February 26. During her closing argument, she particularly emphasized the guilt of the "police officer, who seriously erred." She had requested eighteen months of suspended sentence.