Morocco: A Moroccan Residing Abroad Arrested for Real Estate Spoliation

The lawyer, the businessman residing abroad, as well as a former head of the signature legalization service and an employee are being prosecuted in detention. The fifth defendant, a company director, is being prosecuted on provisional release, informs Assabah, specifying that the five accused are charged with "falsification of official and customary documents" and "spoliation of the property of others".

A notary, who would also be involved in these cases, has been prohibited from leaving the territory. His personal stamp appeared on the official contracts. But the notary declared, during his hearing by the Attorney General of the King, that these documents are false and that the stamp was probably affixed on the contracts without his knowledge.

The facts date back to 2017, when merchants from the "Ozone" Kissariat in Settat filed a complaint against the businessman, considered the "mastermind" of the network, for the spoliation of two real estate properties allegedly belonging to the Muslim Charity Association. However, the properties concerned are the property of a French national, who died in Casablanca in 1967, the daily reports.

With the help of a foreign notary and genealogist, the businessman falsified real estate ownership documents (wills and powers of attorney) belonging to foreigners, as well as official and customary contracts, it is pointed out. The accused then resold these properties to his associates, with the complicity of the lawyer who filed complaints against the occupants of the premises concerned in order to evict them.