Lawyer and Customs Officer Arrested in Multi-Million Dirham "Samaoui" Scam Targeting Pilgrims

A woman was at the head of this criminal network of six people. Her modus operandi consists of promising huge profits thanks to investments in foreign currency exchange, particularly the Saudi riyal and the US dollar. She targeted pilgrims and future candidates for Umrah. The alleged organizer of the network "also claimed to hold large quantities of gold in the process of being cleared, adding a quasi-official dimension to her deceptive discourse," according to Hespress.

One of the victims says she was promised substantial gains, which motivated her to invest more than 825,000 dirhams in several installments in currency exchange and gold trading. To convince the victim, the suspect had taken her to a real currency exchange office. The victim had been able to receive small profits. Subsequently, nothing more. The victim then demanded her money back. The network’s lawyer then stepped in. He convinced the victims to grant an additional delay to the main suspect, as the procedure for unlocking the gold was coming to an end.

The lawyer handed them high-value checks as a guarantee. However, the investigation reveals that some of these checks bore signatures that did not belong to him. Determined to recover her money, the victim set a trap for the suspect. She agreed to hand over an additional 50,000 dirhams. When the day came, the alleged organizer of the network sent her accomplices in her place: the lawyer and the customs officer. When they came to collect the money, they were arrested by the police on July 9th following the violent exchanges between the victim, her relatives and them.

Currently, the investigators are continuing the investigations in order to find the head of the network, still on the run, as well as any other potential accomplices.