Moroccan Mayor Jailed for Embezzling Public Funds to Pay Singer’s Fee

The sentence was handed down on Monday. The president of the commune of El Houafat, under the province of Sidi Kacem, was sentenced by the Criminal Chamber in charge of financial crimes at the Rabat Court of Appeal, to two years in prison with probation for embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds and to pay a fine to "Dar Taliba", reports the daily Al Akhbar.

The accused would have embezzled the sum of 70,000 dirhams from the budget of this structure which he would have used to pay the fee of the artist Abdelaziz Stati for his participation in a music festival organized in the commune.

The Court asked the president of the commune, who is also a senior official of the Ministry of Habous, to justify the gap between the budget planned for the organization of the festival by the City Council and the sums paid to the participants. The accused was also questioned about the irregularities noted in the granting of circumcision bonuses to children in the commune, support for sports teams and beekeepers’ associations, as well as assistance to people with special needs. A confrontation between the accused, the officials and representatives of the associations, allowed the Court to note several irregularities.