Moroccan Consulate Officials in Barcelona Arrested for Alleged Embezzlement

They are a total of four former executives of this service involved in this case. Three of them were arrested and brought before the competent prosecutor’s office by the BNPJ, reports Al Akhbar, specifying that it is a seconded official to the consulate and another in charge of the payment office as well as the head of the passport service.

The case dates back to 2019. Monitoring operations by the hierarchy at the consulate level revealed that the proceeds of certain service benefits were not recorded in the official registers. Suspicions confirmed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which denounced financial embezzlement in the passport service. A complaint was filed and an investigation opened.

According to the preliminary investigation, the cashier would have "omitted" to stick the stamps on the passports concerning 1,070 files worth 675,000 dirhams. The inspection commissions as well as the police brigades noted other financial embezzlement concerning the exchange rates and the services related to the national identity card.

After questioning, the prosecutor decided to prosecute them for the misappropriation of public funds. Two of the accused were incarcerated while the third was prosecuted while on provisional release. A fourth suspect, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant, is said to have embezzled the sum of 2.5 million dirhams before fleeing.