A Moroccan lawyer representing Algerian families has approached the Court of Appeal in Rabat to annul sale contracts of properties belonging to Algerians in the Souissi neighborhood of the Moroccan capital. This comes after suspicious buying and selling activities were confirmed between two real estate companies and a merchant from Tangier, at low prices with the intent to convert them into luxury villas.
The case arose when an Algerian family from Blida filed complaints indicating that their property had been robbed. Moroccan authorities responded to these complaints and referred the matter to the judiciary, which ordered an extensive investigation into the fate of the properties and assigned the investigation to the judicial police of the Rabat Security Directorate.
According to the Moroccan newspaper "Assabah," the investigations revealed extensive acts of robbery and forgery, with property documents branching into 29 forged real estate deeds pertaining to properties that are inheritance for Algerians. The court issued prison sentences of 12 years for those involved, along with substantial financial compensation for the Algerian heirs. The sentence was later raised to 14 years but was subsequently reduced to 8 years, amid the heirs' rejection of a settlement protocol to relinquish their rights and resolve the case amicably.
The Algerian heirs demanded a property appraisal to assess the damages and to annul the settlement protocol that was signed without their consent between fraudsters and real estate companies, asserting that they had not received any compensation for the sale.
One of the real estate company's owners claimed to have given money to one of the notaries after the settlement protocol; however, the owners did not receive anything after the involved notary fled to Canada. The affected parties called for a reassessment of the properties and an examination of the details of the subdivision in the land registry, asserting the invalidation of the signatures and the non-receipt of any judicially awarded amounts, as it is expected that the ruling will be executed and the properties returned to their rightful owners in the coming days.
