Moroccan Notary Sentenced in International Money Laundering Case

The Criminal Chamber of the Court of First Instance in Marrakech last Monday handed down sentences of up to seven years in prison against members of a money laundering and drug trafficking network involving nationals of several countries, including a notary practicing in Marrakech, the daily Assabah reported, specifying that the network is led by a French national.

At the end of the trial, the notary, who was on provisional release, was sentenced to six months in prison with a suspended sentence for money laundering and drug trafficking. She will also have to pay a sum of 13 million dirhams to the Customs Administration, which has joined the civil party. As for the head of the network, a French national, he was sentenced to seven years in prison and a fine of 50,000 dirhams. The same sentence for two other members of the network, a Malian and an MRE, both of whom have French nationality.

Another Malian and a Senegalese, holders of the French passport, were sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 20,000 dirhams each. Six other members of the network were prosecuted in pre-trial detention for, among other things, fraud, drug trafficking, illegal currency and traveler’s check trafficking, contempt of court, armed robbery and document forgery. Three other French nationals, including two Moroccans and a Turk, will be prosecuted on provisional release. However, the court acquitted the manager of the exchange office.

To recall, this network was dismantled thanks to an MRE who almost fell into the trap of the network in mid-November when he had presented himself in an exchange office to convert a sum of 210,000 euros. But things did not go as planned. He had to contact the police in order to save his skin. This allowed, after investigation, to apprehend this network of drug trafficking and money laundering.