Moroccan Real Estate Tycoon Jailed in Massive Fraud Case Affecting 800 Homebuyers

"Issuing checks without provision"; "fraud on projection of fictitious real estate projects"; "organized fraud"... Under the Moroccan Penal Code, these are the charges against the chairman of the real estate group "Bab Darna", Mohamed El Ouardi.

Nearly 800 people would be his potential victims. These are the aggrieved reservists in the context of a real estate project. Several of these victims, linked to "Bab Darna" by reservation contracts, claim to have advanced more than half of the agreed amounts for the purchase of their real estate. And it was only after these administrative and financial steps with well-crafted contractual clauses that the truth was discovered.

And it’s not over. The leaked information suggests that the land on which the real estate project was to be built did not even belong to the "Bab Darna" group. Moreover, other projects (medium and high-end apartments, villas, economic housing) implemented in cities like Agadir, Marrakech, show a clear delay compared to the schedule initially planned and promised by the "Bab Darna" developer, Mohamed El Ouardi.

It is in view of these aggravating situations that the Moroccan police managed to get their hands on him last Thursday as he was about to leave Mohammed V Airport.

Upon arrival at the police station on Boulevard Ghandi in Casablanca, Mohamed El Ouardi, the real estate developer, found himself under the jeers of about twenty people. They presented themselves as victims of the "scam" orchestrated by the "Bab Darna" group. Other victims went the next day to the headquarters of the Casablanca police prefecture, on Boulevard Zerktouni, to file a complaint against this real estate developer.