Moroccan Prime Minister Targeted in Royal Palace Impersonation Scam

The defendant contacted Aziz Akhannouch at a late hour of the night, claiming to be calling on behalf of a royal palace attaché. To make sure, the head of government asked his chief of staff to verify the information, which turned out to be false, reports the daily Assabah.

Having understood that it was a case of identity and function usurpation for the purpose of fraud, the royal palace attaché went to the Mechouar police station to file a complaint, which was recorded in a hearing report that was transmitted to the public prosecutor’s office last week.

The accused had tried to defraud the Ministers of Health, Justice and Youth, who filed a complaint with the cybercrime brigade. The scammer was finally arrested by the police in charge of the security of the parliament, while he was trying to defraud the President of the House of Representatives.

At the hearing before the court of first instance, the defendant’s lawyer presented documents indicating that his client would be a mentally ill person who would have been the victim of several rapes. But the court sentenced him to a prison term of five months and a fine for attempted fraud, and acquitted him of the charges of fraud and homosexuality.