Moroccan MP and Officials Sentenced in Marrakech Casino Corruption Case

The judgment rendered at first instance in February 2015 was confirmed by the Marrakech Court of Appeal, reports Al Massae. The court put an end to the prosecution of one of the accused, a businessman who died. However, the fines were maintained. The defendant Abdelghani M., whose state of health has deteriorated, was not tried. His trial was postponed to December 3 in a separate file.

Prosecuted for corruption, embezzlement of public funds, abuse of power and undue issuance of an authorization to a third party, the Istiqlal MP Abdellatif Abdouh was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams. A former president of the Gueliz district, five deputy mayors and three former municipal councilors were sentenced to 3 years in prison and a fine of 40,000 dirhams for corruption and participation in the embezzlement of public money.

The sentence of two years in prison with a fine of 30,000 dirhams was upheld on appeal for a real estate developer prosecuted for corruption. The former member of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Services, Mehdi Z., was acquitted in this case.

The President of the National Authority for the Protection of Public Property (INPBPM), Mohamed El Ghalloussi, expressed his satisfaction after the verdict of the trial. "We are all the more satisfied that many doubts and questions had, for years, hung over this file which constituted a real test for justice. Finally, it is the law and transparency that prevailed, because I consider this verdict very courageous given the conditions and circumstances that marked this file as well as the nature and positions held by the accused," he said.