فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The Criminal Appeals Chamber for Financial Crimes in Fez issued a verdict acquitting a former communal president of Bab Marzouka in Taza from charges of “embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, forgery of official documents and their use, participation in these acts, and receiving benefits in an institution he managed and supervised.” Three other individuals prosecuted alongside him were also acquitted of the charges.
The acquitted president was prosecuted following a complaint filed by his political successor, who accused him of mismanaging the affairs of the rural commune during the short period he administered it by proxy, after the arrest and conviction of the predecessor in two criminal cases, one related to embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, resulting in a prison sentence of seven and a half years.
The two presidents were not the only ones tried before the Fez financial crimes court; another party member was also prosecuted and sentenced to one year in prison and fined one million centimes after the criminal chamber of the Fez Court of Appeal overturned a prior investigative judge’s ruling not to prosecute him.
The accused faced charges including “breach of trust, embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds, and forgery of administrative documents,” based on a report prepared by the judges of the Regional Court of Auditors in Fez. The report highlighted irregularities in the management of the commune’s affairs, especially regarding the issuance of payment orders without respecting legal procedures and unlawfully imposing fees on beneficiaries of ambulance and school transportation services.
