Marrakech Mayor’s Corruption Trial Delayed Again Amid Embezzlement Charges

On March 26, this trial had been postponed for the second time in order to allow the summoning of the two accused as well as the other accomplices, writes Al Massae while recalling that the mayor, a leader of the PJD in the region, is being prosecuted for embezzlement of public funds and his right-hand man, also from the PJD, for participation in the criminal act.

The daily has taken care to recall that major irregularities had been noted in the public procurement procedures in the framework of COP22 held in 2016 in Marrakech. It was found that several contracts had been signed by mutual agreement by officials in violation of the laws in force. Contracts were awarded by the mayor’s deputy to two companies in which he was a shareholder, the newspaper said, specifying that contractors, civil servants and other accomplices had also been implicated in this case revealed after a complaint by the president of the National Council of the Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Morocco, Abdelilah Tatouch.

This complaint triggered an investigation conducted by the National Brigade of the Judicial Police before the file was forwarded to the Attorney General of the King at the Marrakech Court of Appeal. After investigation, the judge in charge of financial crimes decided to prosecute the mayor and his deputy, both members of the PJD.