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Marrakech – The public prosecution in Fez has referred the case of former parliamentarian Rachid El Fayek and 15 co-defendants to the money laundering chamber at the city’s Court of First Instance. The referral marks a new legal chapter for the jailed ex-MP, who already serves an eight-year prison sentence for corruption.
According to converging reports, the King’s prosecutor at the Fez Court of First Instance transferred the file – dubbed the “El Fayek Empire” – to the money laundering chamber.
The 16 defendants face charges of money laundering in connection with financial crimes tied to the rural commune of Oulad Tayeb, one of the largest communes on the outskirts of Fez. El Fayek, a former member of parliament for the National Rally of Independents (RNI) representing the Fez-South constituency, presided over the commune for years.
Among those referred alongside El Fayek are his brother Jawad El Fayek, the former president of the Fez Prefecture Council, and his second brother Abdelhak El Fayek. His personal secretary, municipal employees, and elected officials from Oulad Tayeb are also named in the case.
The money laundering chamber is expected to begin proceedings on Wednesday, March 25. The first hearing is widely expected to be postponed to allow the defense team to prepare.
The referral comes roughly five months after the Court of Cassation in Rabat rejected an appeal filed by El Fayek’s defense. That ruling effectively upheld the sentences handed down by the Fez Court of Appeal.
El Fayek was first convicted in a trial involving 16 individuals. The appellate criminal chamber specializing in financial crimes raised his sentence from six to eight years of imprisonment in June 2023. The court also imposed a fine of MAD 1 million ($100,000).
His brother Jawad received a four-year prison sentence, up from three years at the initial trial. Other defendants received sentences ranging from six months to two years, along with financial penalties. The convicted included municipal employees, contractors, and El Fayek’s engineer and secretary.
The original charges against the network included bribery, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, forgery of official documents, fraud, abuse of power, illegal profiteering, obstruction of justice, and the unauthorized development of a residential subdivision on communal land.
Defendants were also accused of selling homes in unlicensed housing developments and issuing fraudulent administrative certificates.
The investigation dates back to September 2020. The National Brigade of the Judicial Police in Fez began by interviewing citizens and commune employees following two complaints.
The complainants accused El Fayek of irregularities in real estate transactions, neighborhood infrastructure projects, fuel procurement, and travel allowances. By January 2022, the investigation had expanded significantly, and authorities imposed a travel ban on El Fayek as new suspects emerged.
Separately, El Fayek filed a complaint from prison in 2025 alleging electoral corruption during the 2021 legislative elections. He claimed he was pressured to pay MAD 8 million ($800,000) to a senior official in the Fez-Meknes region in exchange for securing three parliamentary seats.
He said he refused but eventually lent MAD 2 million ($200,000) to a party superior, of which only MAD 1 million ($100,000) was returned. The head of the public prosecution office forwarded the complaint to the Fez Court of Appeal, and the regional judicial police brigade was tasked with the investigation.
