Moroccan Plastic Surgeon to Be Released After Fraud Conviction

Dr. Hassan Tazi, owner of the Al Chifa clinic in Casablanca, will soon leave the local prison of Ain Sebaa where he has been incarcerated since April 2022. On Friday, the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Casablanca sentenced him to three years in prison, two of which were suspended. His wife Mounia Benchaqroun was sentenced to four years in prison. As for his brother Abderrazak Tazi, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The Court sentenced Zainab.B, who presented herself as a "benefactor," to 5 years in prison, while the head of the accounting department Saida.E was sentenced to 4 years in prison. Sentences of four years in prison and three years in prison were respectively handed down against Amina F. and Fatima. H. However, all eight defendants were acquitted of the charge of human trafficking.

Dr Tazi, his brother, his wife and five other people were separately accused of human trafficking, exploitation of the vulnerability of people for commercial purposes, fraud against good-faith benefactors, falsification of treatment invoices and medical records, exploitation of minors suffering from chronic illness, forgery and use of forgeries, and the formation of a criminal gang. On April 13, the criminal chamber of the court of appeal in Casablanca had rejected their request for provisional release.