Hay Cuba" Affair: A 50 Billion Dirham Real Estate Scandal That Has Lasted for 70 Years

When will the "Hay Cuba" legal saga, a considerable heritage estimated at over 50 billion, come to an end? It’s difficult to say. After rulings that were validated in 1982 and then confirmed in 1989, the case is still ongoing before the Moroccan justice system. Long before the death of its owner, a wealthy Cuban in 1982, his two granddaughters had in 1955 requested protective measures concerning the inherited assets. The civil court of Casablanca issued a judicial decision in their favor. The decision was upheld on appeal a few years later. The lawyer who took up their defense would become one of the main defendants.

After the death of the Cuban owner, a Frenchman entered the scene. He was presented as the designated manager of the assets by the deceased grandfather. He died in 1997. His son had in the meantime been entrusted with a will and was responsible for carrying out his wishes. According to the heiresses, an agreement had been reached to guarantee their future once they reached adulthood. But the case took a new turn in 2005. The granddaughters learned that authorization had allegedly been granted to the French lawyer to sell 50% of the heritage in exchange for 35 million dirhams. They claim they were unaware of this. Multiple operations were carried out over several decades: signing of disputed contracts, sales carried out through notaries, mandates transferred from one administration to another, as well as transactions concluded on behalf of intermediaries.

The municipality of Rabat is also among the defendants. According to the investigators, it received a transfer made by the Frenchman. The municipality is suspected of having issued a power of attorney to the lawyer’s son, allowing him to act in turn. The latter is said to have sold a property worth one billion signed in Mohammedia to the benefit of a Casablanca investor. The sum would have been handed over to the father, who is also implicated, the investigation reveals.

Subsequently, the file took a new turn. The name of a French woman, owner of a real estate company in Marrakech, who is the subject of a search warrant for issuing bad checks, is mentioned in the case. The lawyer is suspected of having paid off her debts in exchange for benefits related to the plundered heritage assets. These transactions were used to cover "significant commissions" paid in the shadows, sometimes regularized by judicial decisions, claim the heiresses.

Since 2018, the investigating judge has been seized of the file. He continues the hearings. Several defendants are conspicuous by their absence from the detailed listening sessions. This is delaying the investigations. With original documents dating back decades, the heiresses hope to prevail.