Mosque Leaders in Northern France Face Fraud Investigation Over Finances

It all started with a request for a 25,000 euro grant to secure the surroundings of the mosque, deemed suspicious and reported in March 2022 by the prefecture of the North to the public prosecutor of Lille. The investigation opened at the time led to a first custody of the accused in January, before their second custody this week, reports Saphir News.

The purchase of two real estate properties worth a total of 350,000 euros, carried out in recent years by the Islamic center, has drawn the attention of the investigators. These properties have been rented to pay the profits to the association, explains Me Alexandre Demeyere-Honoré, lawyer of the treasurer of the mosque, involved in the case with the rector Mohamed Karrat.

The investigators are also interested in an unpaid loan of 200,000 euros to the private high school Averroès de Lille, currently in financial difficulty. It is a "suspension of repayment pending better fortune, and in no way a disguised donation," details Me Alexandre Demeyere-Honoré. An investigation has been opened for illegal exercise of the banking profession.

The five accused are accused of receiving funds from abroad without declaring them (illegal financing) and cash donations from the faithful of the mosque. Accusations rejected by the mosque leaders who no longer have the right to manage the place of worship, until the hearing scheduled for October 5, 2023. The case will be tried on the merits in February 2024.