Moroccan Lawmaker Accused of Land Fraud and Embezzlement in Fez

After a first hearing that took place on December 1, the accused, J.D, will be heard again by the investigating judge in charge of financial crimes at the Court of Appeal of Fez, reports the daily Al Akhbar. He is accused, along with seven other people, of having falsified a list of alleged beneficiaries of the right to exploit soulaliyate lands in the region. But after investigation, this is not the case.

Before the judge, the parliamentarian acknowledged having acquired a plot of land with an area of 1,800 square meters, at a price of 2 million dirhams. After a subdivision carried out by the public developer Al Omrane in the area where the building is located, he transferred the right to exploit this plot to the public company for the sum of 2.6 million dirhams. It was when he wanted to cash this amount that he found that his name did not appear on the list of people concerned by the expropriation operation. After contesting, he finally prevailed and obtained compensation of 1.6 million dirhams.

In addition, an administrative investigation was opened by the Ministry of the Interior, in charge of the guardianship of soulaliyate lands. It could lead to the arrest of the officials of the province of Moulay Yaakoub. Several people had already been cited in this case after the preliminary investigation carried out by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Appeal. Some have been prosecuted on provisional release against payment of a bail of 10,000 dirhams and others placed in pre-trial detention.