Tangier court jails RNI official for seven years over property fraud
Written on
A Tangier court has sentenced Ahmed Zegaf, deputy president of the Mghogha district and a member of the National Rally of Independents, to seven years in prison over forged documents and illegal land subdivision in a case covering more than 20 property disputes.
A court in Tangier has sentenced Ahmed Zegaf, deputy president of the Mghogha district and a member of the National Rally of Independents (RNI), to seven years in prison over property-related offences, Hespress reported.
The criminal chamber of the Tangier Court of Appeal issued the first-instance verdict after a trial involving allegations of forged administrative certificates, falsified official documents and the use of cancelled contracts to unlawfully acquire property.
The ruling came 15 months after Zegaf's arrest, following investigations into more than 20 property-related cases involving alleged illegal land subdivision and encroachment on privately owned land. One complaint concerned a buyer who discovered that a plot purchased from Zegaf had allegedly been sold to another person.
The case reportedly prompted further investigations into other property transactions linked to the local official. Zegaf had previously received a three-year prison sentence in a separate case involving property irregularities.
The judgment adds to a run of Moroccan prosecutions touching land and property transactions, where forged administrative certificates and duplicate plot sales have been central to disputes over title in and around Tangier.