Rabat – The Fez Court of Appeals sentenced on Wednesday former MP Abdelkader El Boussairi, to five years in prison in a corruption case.
The case also involves Fez’s mayor Abdeslam Bekkali, and eleven other suspects, including three business leaders.
In addition to the prison sentence, the Criminal Chamber near the Fez Court of Appeals, responsible for financial crimes, fined El Boussairi MAD 100,000 ($9,800).
Bekkali, the city’s mayor who is a member of the governing party RNI was acquitted of the charges against him.
The case involves administrative and financial irregularities within the Fez municipality, which were uncovered during a deal concerning the sale of vehicles from the municipal impound lot.
The vehicles were initially believed to be scrapped before it was revealed that they had been resold as usable vehicles using suspicious documentation.
The public prosecutor’s office has decided to take legal action against the suspects, under a list of charges that includes forgery of official documents, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, in addition to abuse of power.
Charges also include financially benefiting from a project they managed and participated in, as well as the offense of failure to report a crime they were privy and involved in.
El-Boussairi’s name appears in a number of other corruption cases including one involving irregularities in a license issued for a private contractor for the construction of a public sports facility on private property.
In addition to the main suspect, the Court of Appeals also sentenced two businessmen to three years in prison and a fine of MAD 30,000 ($2,900). The former regional coordinator of the Constitutional Union party received a 10-month suspended sentence and a fine of MAD 10,000 ($980), according to a report from Le360.
Four other officials received prison sentences ranging from 4 to 8 months in prison, along with fines ranging from MAD 2,000 ($190) to MAD 5,000 ($490).
Earlier this January, the Constitutional Court decided to strip Deputy Boussairi of his parliamentary seat.
El Boussairi was also a municipal elected official and the third vice president of the Fez Municipal Council. In October 2023, he was removed from both positions by the city’s Administrative Court.
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