The Criminal Chamber of the First Instance at the Casablanca Court of Appeal convicted and sentenced businessman Abdellah Boudrika, the brother of the former president of the Raja Casablanca football team, to five years in prison for forging official documents to seize a property.
The court also handed down a six-year prison sentence to a real estate lawyer found guilty of in the same case, while other co-defendants received sentences ranging from four to five years.
During the trial, the prosecutor had argued that Boudrika and his co-defendants were involved in falsifying a promise of sale and a final transfer contract for a property registered as “32658 C” in Bouskoura, on the outskirts of Casablanca.
In a detailed indictment, the deputy prosecutor had presented evidence demonstrating that the legal documents were fraudulent, asserting that the defendants had deliberately altered the facts.
A key element of the case centered on the vulnerability of the counterparty to the real estate transaction, who had been diagnosed with mental health issues, confirmed by psychiatric evaluations at Ibn Rochd University Hospital.
The prosecutor asserted that the brother of the counterparty accusing the defendants of fraud had previously initiated a civil court process to place him under legal guardianship. According to the prosecution, this demonstrated his Boudrika’s awareness of the accuser’s diminished mental capacity at the time of the contested transactions.
Crucial testimony came from a real estate lawyer’s assistant, who stated that the counterparty exhibited clear signs of impaired judgment when signing the documents. According to her account, the counterparty’s brother physically guided him through the signing process in the presence of the lawyer, who failed to take any steps to verify his legal competence.
Boudrika had already been sentenced previously to six years in prison in a separate [criminal] case involving a property dispute over “Blad Hadda,” registered under number “49/11384” in Tit Mellil, near Casablanca.