Moroccan Billionaires Face Corruption Charges in High-Profile Cases

According to Al Akhbar, the cases are legion. It mentions the case of the Istiqlal parliamentarian from Marrakech, Abdellatif Abdouh, prosecuted in the Saâdi Casino case. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams. The PAM parliamentarian, Abderrahim El Kamel, who is also the president of the commune of Ouahat Sidi Brahim, was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of 600,000 DH for corruption.

The case of the embezzlement of more than 115 billion dirhams from the CNSS, which is at least 20 years old, was also mentioned. The Court of Cassation has, in a recent decision, confirmed the conviction of the main accused, Rafik Haddaoui, former director general of the CNSS. He and the other convicted persons must repay about 32 billion DH. Their property will be confiscated within the limit of the sums judged.

Mohammed El Ferraâ, a former CDT parliamentarian, also a former mayor of Essaouira, will be heard in the next few days before the Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Appeal of Marrakech. He would be involved in a case of mismanagement. This is not the first time that this elected official has been prosecuted before the courts. He had been accused in the past of the embezzlement of public property when he was at the head of the General Mutual of Public Administration Personnel (MGPAP). The Court of Appeal of Rabat will acquit him in 2016.

Former socialist deputy, former mayor of El Marssa, near Laâyoune, the billionaire Hassan Derham, would be involved in a case of municipal management pending before the courts. The former Minister of the Civil Service, Mohamed Moubdii was recently heard on the premises of the BNPJ in Casablanca for cases of financial imbalances and irregularities observed within the commune of Fqih Ben Salah (Béni Mellal-Khenifra region) which he chairs.