The case involving the former director general of Al Omrane and several of his collaborators highlights a vast network of embezzlement of public funds. Accused of fraud, falsification of documents and abuse of power, they are suspected of having manipulated infrastructure projects financed by the state to embezzle colossal sums.
The former general director of Al Omrane in the Oriental region was recently detained in Bourkaiz prison, in the province of Moulay Yacoub, along with the company’s financial director, an engineer and two officials who benefited from public contracts awarded by the company. According to media reports, this group of individuals is accused of a series of serious financial and administrative crimes, which are said to have caused considerable harm to the state and public institutions.
The former director and his accomplices were formally indicted by the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal of Fez for accusations of embezzlement and mismanagement of public funds, falsification of administrative documents, use of forgery, manipulation of competition by fraudulent means, abuse of power and taking of undue interests. Among the accused is also Abdelaziz M., a company manager, who faces the same accusations. Furthermore, another defendant is being prosecuted for his participation in the dissipation of public funds and the falsification of documents. The financial director of Al Omrane is, for his part, accused of mismanagement and misappropriation of public funds allocated to infrastructure projects.
Investigations carried out by the regional brigade of the judicial police of Fez revealed suspicions of embezzlement of public funds on an impressive scale. According to information collected during the investigation, a sum of more than 412 million dirhams was wasted, with alleged embezzlement involving 198 million dirhams. In addition, an in-depth inspection carried out by the Al Omrane holding company estimated losses at more than 610 million dirhams, on the account dedicated to public administration operations, entitled “MOD”.
The former director would have concluded several agreements with public administrations and local authorities for the realization of infrastructure projects. These institutions would have paid considerable sums to Al Omrane, but according to the investigation, the former director general would have diverted a significant part of the funds allocated to these projects, using them in a manner inconsistent with their initial destination. A particularly worrying aspect of this affair concerns the unprofitable projects in which the former director is said to have engaged, thus wasting part of public funds.
-It was also revealed that the former manager allegedly transferred sums of money to a football club in the form of advances for housing projects for the team, although the works were not completed. These types of questionable transactions raise questions about the use of public funds for projects that did not meet the standards of profitability and public interest. In addition, payments were made for several contracts, notably with the municipality of Nador, without any contractual basis, which further increased suspicions of corruption.
Another fraudulent aspect of the affair concerns the acquisition of land in partnership with public institutions. The former director allegedly used credits intended for infrastructure projects to finance these acquisitions, in violation of public management rules. In addition, he allegedly entered into a dubious partnership with one of the accused to develop land, in which 40% of the profits went to the latter, without any legal framework or respect for procedures.
