Spanish newspaper accuses Morocco official of embezzling money

A Spanish newspaper has revealed the details of a case before the Spanish judiciary, where Moroccan officials and their spouses face charges of transferring funds donated by Morocco to fight extremism in Europe to their bank accounts.

The investigation, published in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo on Sunday, 9 June, entitled “Feminine cover to Morocco’s informant trade in Spain”, was republished on Tuesday (11 June) on the newspaper’s website, elmundo.es.

Money Laundering

The Spanish newspaper unveiled the details of an investigation, on a case before the Spanish judiciary, where Moroccan officials are accused of transferring funds donated by Morocco to help fight extremism in Europe to their bank accounts.

El Mundo indicated in a report, partially translated by Arabi21, that the Egovalda Court in Barcelona ​​investigated the affair of transferring funds by the General Directorate for Studies and Documentation, known as the DGED (Foreign Intelligence) to the personal accounts of Moroccan officials.

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According to the newspaper, “the Moroccan security services transferred money to Moroccan officials located in Spain to recompense informants who provide information.  However, the Moroccan officials embezzled the money by transferring the funds to their wives’ bank accounts.”

El Mundo published pictures and names of the officials’ wives, who received the funds under question, quoting their statements before the Spanish judiciary to justify the significant amounts transferred to their accounts.

The newspaper quoted a Spanish official familiar with the ongoing investigation saying that “the funds sent by the DGED were deposited in the account of a travel agency owned by three wives of Moroccan officials before being transferred to the account of another travel agency based in Rabat and owned by a Moroccan official.”

El Mundo also quoted the head of one the associations surveyed by the investigation saying: “Morocco’s officials are enjoying extremely sophisticated lifestyles in Spain using the funds Rabat is sending to fight extremism in Europe.”

El Mundo also revealed the testimony of the wife of one of the Moroccan officials before the Spanish court, during which “she presented documents in an attempt to verify her income sources. Thus, the documents mentioned that the suspect gave an Arabic lesson on 31 February, a day that does not exist in the year calendar. The judge sustained a charge of providing the court with forged papers against the defendant.”