Moroccan Notary Arrested for $5 Million Real Estate Fraud Targeting Expats

This Monday, April 21, a notary in Casablanca was to appear before the Attorney General of the King to answer several charges including breach of trust. The defendant is accused of embezzlement by nearly 400 clients in the context of social housing and 5 real estate developers including Mohamed Boudrika, the former president of Raja.

More than 50 million dirhams were diverted by the Casablanca notary, who had been granted a one-year deadline to be able to regularize her situation amicably. This deadline was not enough for her, but sufficient to shed light on other developments in the case, forcing the Attorney General to place her in custody to deepen the investigation, before bringing her before the magistrate of the Court of Appeal.

Five real estate developers including the former president of Raja, Mohamed Boudrika, as well as several clients had filed complaints against the notary for breach of trust and embezzlement. The defendant was in fact involved in the cashing of clients’ checks, including one belonging to a real estate company worth 14 million dirhams, and the misappropriation of 10 million dirhams.

The multiplication of complaints filed by the victims made it possible to reveal that the defendant was involved in cases of embezzlement of more than 50 million dirhams.