Real Estate Fraud Ring Convicted in El Jadida, Morocco: Pharmacist and Husband Sentenced

The chamber also confirmed the eight-year and five-year sentences handed down respectively against a pharmacist and her husband, both accused of forming a criminal gang specializing in the unlawful appropriation of other people’s real estate by falsifying official documents, and of recovering administrative papers by producing and exploiting false statements.

In the trial by default, the pharmacist was sentenced to eight years in prison by the court, which ordered her arrest at the request of the public prosecutor’s office. Her husband was sentenced to five years in prison, while two adouls (notaries) were each sentenced to 12 years in prison.

According to Assabah, the case came to light when a man filed a lawsuit against the pharmacist and the two adouls for forgery of official documents and false testimony. The plaintiff was surprised to see the pharmacist and the two adouls present false administrative documents to appropriate a plot of land belonging to him.

Another complaint, relating to an inheritance case, was filed against the three individuals for the unlawful appropriation of two plots of land. The heirs were faced with false testimonies from members of the real estate mafia. The daily adds that the defendant even submitted a request to register a property, located in the Portuguese district of El Jadida, belonging to the Jewish community.

The "real estate mafia" consisted of the pharmacist, her husband, the two adouls, a driver and eleven witnesses. The two adouls were each sentenced to twelve years in prison, the driver to five years, and the eleven witnesses to four months in prison.