فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
Casablanca – The investigating judge in charge of financial crimes at the Casablanca Court of Appeal has ordered the pre-trial detention of former MP and former president of the Beni Mellal municipality, Ahmed Chedda, at Oukacha Prison, along with three other defendants. In contrast, the judge decided to prosecute 12 other individuals, including the current president of the Beni Mellal Municipal Council, Ahmed Badra, on bail set at 50 million centimes (MAD).
National Judicial Police Investigations Reveal Serious Suspicions
Judicial sources reported that the National Judicial Police Brigade had referred Ahmed Chedda and 15 other individuals to the Public Prosecutor at the Casablanca Court of Appeal earlier that morning, who in turn presented them to the investigating judge specialized in financial crimes. The source clarified that the investigations pertain to alleged “misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds” through manipulation of public tenders, real estate transactions marred by irregularities, as well as irregularities concerning urban development projects, public lighting, waste management, and the acquisition of equipment and supplies.
The investigating judge also decided to place the public servant “Mohamed.Q”, the Moroccan-American businessman “Ahmed.H” (owner of “Ecomed” company, responsible for public landfill management), and the engineer “Mohamed.M” (owner of a consulting firm and previously prosecuted in the case of former minister Mohamed Mobdii) in pre-trial detention at the same prison.
Freezing of Assets and Properties, and a Complaint from “Moroccan Organization for the Protection of Public Funds”
For its part, the Public Prosecution ordered the seizure and freezing of bank accounts and real and movable properties belonging to Ahmed Chedda, his wife “S.Z”, and his nephew “K.Z”, as well as their shares in affiliated companies, in addition to freezing the assets of “Life Fitness” company registered in Beni Mellal.
These measures followed a complaint filed by the “Moroccan Organization for the Protection of Public Funds” based on a report from the General Inspectorate of Territorial Administration. The report confirmed that the municipality forfeited revenues estimated at 27.9 million dirhams due to the failure to collect fees on undeveloped urban lands, as the former president only collected taxes from those who voluntarily submitted declarations without pursuing delinquents.
Widespread Irregularities in Tender Management and Services
The report also noted a failure to recover 16 million dirhams from a private company after the sale of two municipal properties, leading to the seizure of the amount by the municipality’s creditors. It also pointed to the exploitation of the “Ain Asserdoun” complex, belonging to the municipality, by close associates of the president without paying due fees, and the absence of any measures to collect fees on stays in tourist establishments.
At the level of public tenders, the report identified breaches of evaluation criteria; for instance, the tender for the development of Mohammed V Avenue (62.64 million dirhams) was awarded to a consortium of two companies based on “professional references” rather than technical methodology, while excluding a competitor who submitted the required documents for the construction tender of “Tamkenount Souika” (3.53 million dirhams). Irregularities were also recorded in two urban rehabilitation studies tenders (19.92 million dirhams) in favor of a consulting firm “close” to the president.
The management of requests and purchase orders was not spared from abuses, as the report revealed “fictitious” consultations to justify supply contracts and the disbursement of expenses outside the municipality’s jurisdiction, such as fueling vehicles not belonging to it during 2016-2017, and paying rental fees for other administrations totaling 331,902 dirhams annually.
As for the sanitation sector and public landfill management, it was found that the entrusted company failed to comply with its obligations to purchase new machinery worth 7.9 million dirhams and did not complete the rehabilitation work of the landfill, with the former president’s failure to apply contractual penalties, which incurred additional losses to the municipality’s budget.
Investigations Continue Amidst Calls for Public Funds Recovery
Judicial investigations are ongoing to determine responsibilities and legal consequences for all involved, while a detailed interrogation session before the investigating judge is expected in the coming weeks, amidst calls from human rights organizations for a comprehensive prosecution of all involved parties and the recovery of squandered public funds.
