Moroccan Bank Director Arrested for Multi-Million Dirham Embezzlement Scheme

The accused, who is staying in the local prison of Tamesna (Témara), is the director of the Union Marocaine des Banques (UBM) agency in Tétouan. Daniel Ziouzio, as well as his accomplice, were arrested on Monday at the headquarters of the establishment, located on Avenue Mohammed V, following a complaint from Bank Al-Maghrib revealing suspicious withdrawal operations on customer accounts.

The bank branch director embezzled tens of millions of dirhams from customer accounts through a fraud system set up for years. For example, the accused established a checkbook in the name of an insurance company without the knowledge of the company’s managers. He then began to issue checks of significant amounts in his name and in the name of other people, stripping this company of its assets.

The official also tried to scam institutions, companies and businessmen to whom he promised record interest rates of 4.2% per semester. The judicial police of Tétouan did not find any money in the luxurious villa of the defendant, searched on Friday on the orders of the competent public prosecutor’s office. One day before his arrest, the bank branch director would have initiated the steps for the sale of this house in order to avoid its seizure by justice.

The accused, who is also the vice-president of the municipality of Tétouan, would be addicted to gambling and would have squandered most of the embezzled funds in casinos in Tangier. Real estate companies have been the most numerous to suffer the massive embezzlements of the banker. A company whose one of the partners is the royal advisor Omar Azziman, who had 3.4 million dirhams in his account opened in this agency, found itself with a balance of 230 dirhams.