Moroccan Notary and Developer Jailed in Multimillion-Dirham Housing Fraud Case

8 months in prison for the notary and 5 years in prison for the real estate developer. This is the judgment handed down by the court of first instance in Témara. Two other people were each sentenced to 1 year in prison. In addition to the prison sentences, all the accused must pay a sum of 6,150,000 dirhams to the 20 members of the Beethoven housing cooperative. This sum represents their contributions. The victims, teachers in major schools, but also civil servants and employees, should benefit from housing under this project.

The notary is accused of having ceded, through a fraudulent donation contract, a land property to the members of this housing cooperative. This transfer had been concluded two weeks after the death of the real owner of the land. According to the testimony of the plaintiffs (heirs), he "was not able to give his informed consent before his death, and therefore could not conclude a contract and make financial transactions or donations," reports the Arabic daily Assabah. The real estate developer is, for his part, accused of having defrauded the notary and the members of Beethoven in the context of this transfer.

At the court of first instance in Témara, a trial for the falsification of several official documents should soon open in the context of this fraud case.