Real Estate Fraudster Arrested in Morocco for Widespread Mortgage Scam

The scammer defrauded several dozen victims in the city and its surroundings, stripping them of thousands of dirhams, reports the daily Al Massae. His modus operandi was to sign mortgages on apartments he does not own, which he had already rented to other people for amounts ranging from 60,000 to 200,000 dirhams. He then has the new tenants sign debt acknowledgments and then pays the actual apartment owners the annual rental amounts.

The owner of one of the apartments, having discovered the trick, filed a complaint with the justice system against the scammer, whose identity has not been disclosed. An investigation opened under the supervision of the competent prosecutor’s office led to the arrest of the latter and his accomplice.