Data Uncovers Public Fund Embezzlement at Morocco's Barcelona Consulate

Rabat – Sources from Morocco’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told MWN on Thursday that the ministry has taken a series of measures to address the embezzlement of public funds which took place in December 2019 at the Passport Department of Morocco’s Consulate General in Barcelona.

As the case remains under investigation, the sources reported that there are currently three suspects in the case, including one civil servant and two contractors. They added that the employee continues to serve within the ministry while one of the contractors got his agreement terminated.

In January 2020, an inspection committee from the ministry’s General Inspectorate visited the General Consulate in Barcelona to collect information on the case and identify potential suspects.

The committee’s conclusions were later synthesized in a report that was shared with the General Treasury in February 2020.

Morocco’s General Treasury, for its part, led a separate inspection mission to the consulate and urged the judicial system to file two complaints for financial crimes.

In coordination with the Foreign Ministry, General Treasury, and Public Prosecution, the National Judicial Police Brigade has carried out the investigation which remains ongoing at the time of writing.

While corruption appears to be widely criticized within Moroccan society, the reporting on the embezzlement of public funds remains low with few high-profile cases attracting public attention.

In March headlines covered the trial of Rachid Fayek, a member of Morocco’s ruling party the National Rally of Independents (RNI), his brother Hicham El Fayek, and 14 others for alleged embezzlement of public money and fraud.

The suspects faced charges of fraud, embezzlement of public money, corruption, and abuse of power. Media reporting labeled the suspects as ‘real estate mafia,’ adding that the politician used money allocated for public projects to fund his personal investments.

Three years earlier, the appeal court of Casablanca sentenced the former Mayor of Had Soualem Zine El Abidine El Howas to seven years in prison, finding him guilty of corruption and embezzlement of public funds.

El Howas was arrested in 2017 as the police found around MAD 170 million ($15.5 million) in cash at his house.

As high-profile corruption cases break through local or national media outlets, local cases of corruption are likely to be unreported. This occurs domestically, or within diplomatic representations abroad, despite measures taken by the government to increase transparency and fight corruption.