Moroccan Real Estate Scam Victims Protest After Court Hearing Postponed Again

This movement follows the thirtieth postponement of the appeal hearing, initially scheduled to examine the merits of the case, reports the daily Al Akhbar.

Received by the Attorney General of the King, the victims were told that this delay was necessary because "the justice system was still gathering all the information relating to the complaint filed against the manager of this fictitious company, at the appeal stage". However, during a previous hearing, the plaintiffs had provided "documents relating to the circuits of the sums of money diverted by the manager of the company and invested in Panama", as well as information on other bank accounts.

The human impact of this fraud remains heavy, as evidenced by the reported statements: "some of them are still traumatized, that others have died of heart attacks because of the debts and that the families of some others have been ruined by this case".

This case had already seen the CEO of the real estate group sentenced in the first instance to 15 years in prison (for forgery, fraud, bounced checks) and a notary to 12 years for complicity. About 1,400 families would have been defrauded by this company described as "fictitious", for a total estimated damage of more than 500 million dirhams in unreturned advances.