Marrakech Urban Agency Ex-Director Gets 10-Year Sentence in Major Corruption Case

In the dock this Wednesday evening, the wife of the main defendant and an architect were also sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment each, accompanied by a fine of 1 million DH each.

The Court of Appeal sentenced the three defendants to jointly pay damages of 300,000 DH to the plaintiff, as well as one symbolic dirham to the Non-Governmental Organization Transparency Maroc.

This corruption case that has tarnished the director of the Urban Agency of Marrakech and his two co-defendants dates back to July 4, 2019, when a developer had denounced the now former director of the Urban Agency, who had demanded a bribe from him in exchange for accelerating the procedures related to an administrative authorization.

It was on the instructions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, seized by the plaintiff, that an investigation was opened on this matter by the police services and led to the arrest of the accused in flagrante delicto just after having obtained a bribe of 500,000 DH.